Turkcell moving forward with Fintur acquisition

Turkey’s largest cellco by subscribers, Turkcell, plans to continue with its effort to fully acquire wireless joint venture Fintur (inclusive of mobile operations in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova), reports Bloomberg. Turkcell, which currently holds a 41.45% stake in the subsidiary, has already made a non-binding offer for the 58.55% stake owned by Swedish partner TeliaSonera. Turkcell CEO Kaan Terzioglu is cited as confirming that the company will follow this with another bid after completing due diligence.

As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, in September 2015 Turkcell declared that it was looking to appoint a strategic and financial advisor to explore the possibility of full acquisition of Fintur, while two months later the operator signed agreements to hire Citigroup and HSBC Holdings to advise on the acquisition. The decision followed TeliaSonera’s announcement that it had initiated a process to reduce, and over time fully exit, its presence in its ‘Eurasian’ (CIS and Asian) markets.