AA – The Turkish government may hold a second public offering for its shares in Turk Telekom, Türkiye's fixed line operator, said a cabinet member on Wednesday.
Türkiye’s Transportation and Communication Minister Binali Yildirim stated that timing of the public offering will depend on market conditions. However, he pointed out the advantages of 2010 which the government thinks it will be a year when impacts of the global downturn will mitigate. Yildirim has not disclosed the percentage of shares to be offered to public.
In 2005, Türkiye sold a 55 percent stake in Turk Telekom to Saudi Oger for USD 6.5 billion. In May 2008, Türkiye raised USD 1.9 billion in the initial public offering for a 15 percent stake in Turk Telekom. Turkish Treasury owns the remaining 30 percent shares. "We aim to achieve the utmost public interest", Yildirim noted.
Turk Telekom has around 16.8 million fixed line subscribers, 6 million ADSL customers and 12.1 million GSM subscribers as of September 30, 2009. Turk Telekom also holds an 81 percent share in Avea, one of the three mobile phone operators in Türkiye.