Turkcell makes Bulgarian offer
ISTANBUL – Turkish mobile operator Turkcell said yesterday it has made an offer in the tender of a 65 percent stake in Bulgaria’s dominant telecoms firm BTC. Iceland’s richest man Thor Bjorgolfsson is considering selling his option for 65 percent in BTC and has appointed Lehman Brothers to short-list investors interested in the acquisition, which experts value at around -1.2 billion to -1.3 billion. Turkcell, which faces growing competition at home, signed a $3 billion syndicated loan last month and its new chief executive, Sureyya Ciliv, said the firm could use it to invest in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and central Asia. It had six months to use the loan. Media reports have said besides Turkcell, Turkey’s leading fixed-line operator Turk Telecom and private equity investment funds Providence Equity Partner, Texas Pacific Group, Warburg Pincus and Mid Europa Partners were also eyeing the deal. Bjorgolfsson’s investment vehicle Novator bought the call option on the 65 percent stake in BTC last year from US equity fund Advent International which took control of formerly state-owned BTC in 2004. Novator has said it expects Lehman to have proposals on how to proceed with the deal at the end of April at the latest. A source familiar with the process has told Reuters Lehman Brothers was talking to interested strategic and private equity fund investors who have placed initial offers with them. He said Lehman would most likely propose Novator open talks with up to six interested bidders for the sale that is expected to be finalized in June.
