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Swedish operator says share sale is in line with its plan to focus on its operations in the Nordic and Baltic markets
Telia Company on Tuesday announced it has sold its remaining 7% direct stake in Turkcell as part of its ongoing move to exit Eurasia and focus on its Nordic and Baltic operations.
The Swedish operator said it has offloaded 153.5 million ordinary shares in Turkcell for around 4.13 billion kronor (€433 million).
The sale to institutional investors is Telia’s second in recent months. It offloaded 155 million shares in the Turkish mobile operator held by its Sonera business in May, raising SEK4.43 billion.
Tuesday’s transaction means Telia no longer holds a direct stake in Turkcell. However, it retains a 24% indirect stake through Turkcell Holding.
"We will after today’s transaction continue to be the largest shareholder in Turkcell and as such will continue our long-term efforts to solve the ownership deadlock and to reinstate normal corporate governance in Turkcell," said Telia Company CEO Johan Dennelind, in a statement.
Turkcell’s ownership has been in dispute for a decade, with Russia’s LetterOne at loggerheads with Turkish conglomerate Cukurova Holding over the pair’s respective stakes in the telco. As a result, the normal functioning of the company, including the payment of dividends, has been interrupted.
While Telia is keen to see the situation resolved, its attentions are primarily focuses elsewhere.
"The sale of the remaining directly owned shares in Turkcell is in line with our strategy to focus on our operations in the Nordics and Baltics," Dennelind said.
Telia announced its decision to sell out of its Eurasian operations two years ago and has since offloaded assets in Nepal and Tajikistan, and is working on the disposal of its stake in Fintur Holdings, a joint venture with Turkcell that holds stakes in Georgia’s Geocell, Moldova’s Moldcell, and Azercell in Azerbaijan.
Earlier this year Dennelind said he expects Ucell will be the most difficult asset to sell. The Uzbek operation was subject to corruption investigations by U.S. and Dutch authorities.
