Indian group buys Turkish alternative telco

India’s Dhanus Technologies has acquired 100% of Turkish alternative telco Borusan Telekom for USD30 million including debt of USD25 million, beating interest from companies including Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong and an unnamed US telecoms firm. Borusan Telekom is focused on providing corporate fixed line services, with estimated annual revenues of USD70 million. Dhanus Technologies’ vice chairman S. Muthukrishan said: ‘Turkey has a strategic position for us between Asia, Europe and Africa. As we step into European markets, we have decided to start with Turkey. With a total of 34 point of presence (PoPs), 32 within Turkey and two abroad, Borusan Telekom has one of the strongest alternative networks in Turkey…We will take innovative and dynamic steps in the retail market…one of our first applications will be to provide solutions to Turks living in Germany…In retail, we will have aggressive marketing strategies for products like LLU and MAN.’ Borusan’s CEO Agah Uayur added: ‘In the coming period, opportunities will increase with the acceleration of the [Turkish telecoms] liberalisation process…Under our management, Borusan Telekom developed a strong infrastructure and a wide portfolio of products and services,’ and went on to say that he believed that Dhanus had the global resources to expand the company’s services outside the Turkish market. Established in 1993, Chennai-based Dhanus provides a range of communications, logistics and IT services. Its products include international calling cards and GPS tracking devices.