Motorola settles Telsim suit

A few months after Nokia announced it had settled its claim against Turkish cellco Telsim and its owner the Turkish Savings and Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), Motorola has okayed a similar deal which will see the wireless operator pay it USD500 million in cash plus a 20% share of the proceeds from the sale of the company. The agreement clears the way for the Turkish government to pursue the sale of Telsim; earlier this month TMSF announced that 15 companies had applied for pre-qualification to take part in the sale process. As part of the agreement Motorola has withdrawn litigation against Telsim and its demand for arbitration against the Turkish government at the Washington-based International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes. However, the deal allows the equipment manufacturer to continue its efforts to enforce the previous judgement it obtained against the Uzan family – the original owners of Telsim – for perpetrating what Motorola describes as ‘massive fraud’.