Altimo to raise stake in Turkcell

Altimo may become a strategic partner to Turkcell, Kirill Babaev says. Russian telecom investor Altimo will repurchase an 8.5 percent stake in Turkish mobile operator Turkcell İletişim Hizmetleri that it sold earlier this year, Vatan newspaper reported on Thursday, citing Altimo Vice President Kirill Babaev. Altimo, owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa Group, is aiming to increase its control in Turkcell, Vatan said. Altimo cut its stake to 4.99 percent from 13.2 percent to abide by a U.S. court ruling on its conflict with Telenor over assets in Russia and Ukraine, selling the shares to Russian-Kazakh investors at high discount. Telenor and Altimo agreed last week to merge their stakes in VimpelCom and ZAT Kyivstar, ending disputes over control of mobile companies in Russia and Ukraine. Altimo may become a strategic partner to Turkcell, which is controlled by Çukurova Holding and TeliaSonera, because they have a long-term interest in the company, Vatan said, citing Babaev.

Altimo to raise stake in Turkcell hurriyetdailynews.com Thu, Oct 15, 2009