Turkey's Cukurova Holding AS appeared to emerge victorious in the country's most high-profile boardroom battle in decades as a U.K. court ruled on Tuesday it could reclaim control of Turkcell.The decision would re-establish Cukurova's control over a business that holds some 50% of Turkey's mobile-phone market and has been identified as a strategic asset by the country's government.
Mavi Boncuk |
Mehmet Karamehmet, one of Turkey’s best known businessmen, has won a long-sought victory over Russia’s Alfa Group in a legal battle over control of Turkcell , the country’s leading mobile group. But he still faces challenges in a saga in which the Turkish state has played an increasing part.
The UK Privy Council ruled on Tuesday that Mr Karamehmet’s privately held Cukurova group must pay $1.56bn to reacquire control of Turkcell from the Alfa Group of the Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman.
The total was far closer to the $1.5bn Cukurova said it owed Alfa than the $3bn claimed by the Russian group. The court also ruled that interest would only start to accrue on the $1.56bn as of Tuesday’s verdict. Its decision on the terms and conditions came in the wake of a January ruling in which the Privy Council said Cukurova should have the opportunity to redeem the shares, which Alfa took control of when Cukurova defaulted on a $1.35bn loan in 2007.