Alfa Group provides 3.3 billion dollars for 13.22 percent of Turkcell

MOSCOW - Russian holding company Alfa Group said on Wednesday that it would provide 3.3 billion dollars (2.72 billion euros) to obtain indirectly a 13.22 percent stake in Turkish mobile phone operator Turkcell.
Alfa Group said that it had agreed terms with Turkish conglomerate Cukurova.
Alfa Group would provide Cukurova Group with a loan of 1.707 billion dollars over six years and would buy convertible bonds repayable in 2011 for 1.593 billion dollars, Alfa Telekom, a subsidiary of Alfa Group, said.
Unless exceptional circumstances arose, the bonds were convertible for 18 months after they had been issued and as a result of the operation, Alfa Group would end up indirectly with 13.22 percent of Turkcell.
Completion of the agreement depended on various conditions, among which was approval from regulatory bodies. However, the two sides intended to complete the deal in the third quarter of this year.
The announcement counters moves by Swedish-Finnish operator TeliaSonera which owns 37.0 percent of Turkcell and which said in March that it wanted to increase this holding to 64.3 percent.
TeliaSonera said that it had reached an agreement with Cukurova Holdings, the biggest shareholder in Turkcell with 43.0 percent and that Cukurova Holdings was to have sold it 27.0 percent for 3.1 billion dollars on May 23.
TeliSonera has laid a complaint before the international commercial court in Geneva against Cukurova, alleging that the Turkish group had not respected the terms of their agreement and asking the court to prevent Cukurova from selling shares in Turkcell.

06/22/2005 13:51 GMT