ANKARA - Turkish conglomerate Cukurova plans to sell up to 50 percent of its print media and television assets and has hired JP Morgan for the sale, sources familiar with the deal said.
Cukurova is offering a minority stake in its print media assets, which include newspaper Aksam, television companies including entertainment channel Show TV, and pay-TV Digiturk, the sources said.
One of the sources said four bidders had started due diligence.
"They are making a holding structure including Digiturk, Aksam and Show TV and the other newspapers and magazines, and they are offering that," said the second source, who declined to be named. "They are selling up to 50 percent of it."
The deal coincides with a plan to list a minority stake in Digiturk, which is part-owned by U.S.-based Providence Equity Partners.
JP Morgan and Cukurova's media arm declined to comment while no one at Cukurova could be reached for comment.
Foreign companies have shown interest in European Union candidate Turkey's fast growing media sector, and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and Germany's Axel Springer have already moved in.
But the Cukurova newspapers and TV channels will be competing for attention with the media assets of the Ciner Group, which are expected to go on sale this year after a government body seized them, alleging irregularities.
Those assets include one of Turkey's best-selling newspapers, Sabah, and top-rated entertainment broadcaster ATV. Ahmet Erturk, head of the TMSF body which seized the assets, has said he aims to raise $1.5-2 billion from the sale.
A law limits foreign ownership to 25 percent of broadcasters -- although foreigners can come in with local partners as Murdoch did -- while there is no limit for newspapers. The ruling AK Party, which is expected to win a general election on Sunday, had signalled it could change the law on ownership.
But the second source said it was more likely the buyer would be a private equity investor and that several foreign media firms which had been looking at Turkey before were not interested in the Cukurova deal.
"It's very hard to have a partnership in media ... I think it will be mostly financial, private equity funds," he said.
Heavily indebted Cukurova, whose interests range from energy to telecoms, sold a stake in cellphone firm Turkcell earlier this month and agreed to pay off some debt early.
It also sold its insurance firm and in May signed a $1.5 billion loan to pay off its debt to Russian telecoms investment firm Altimo, for which JP Morgan was the global coordinator.