Turkey’s communications authority approved the transfer of 55 per cent of shares in Turk Telekom which are owned by Ojer Telekom (Otas) to a joint venture of creditor banks.

Turk Telekom said in a statement the shares would be owned by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) set up by Otas’ creditors, after gaining approval for the transfer from the country’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority.

Repayments
Otas failed to keep up with repayments on a $4.75 billion loan it took out to acquire the 55 per cent stake in the company. The creditors then decided to set up the SPV to take over the stake. The banks, including Akbank, Garanti Bank and Isbank, applied to take over the stake in July.

Turk Telekom added the transfer would have no consequence to its subsidiaries, including TT Mobil, TTNet and TT International Telekomunikasyon.

Garanti Bank first said in February it was looking to take control of the 55 per cent stake, as Otas had failed to make repayments on the loan for 18 months at the time.

Akbank, Garanti Bank and Isbank loaned Otas $1.5 billion, $1 billion and $500 million respectively, alongside funding from 26 other finance houses which took the total to $4.75 billion.

Turk Telekom, an integrated fixed line and mobile operator, had 20.2 million connections at end-Q2.