(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Qatar's phone carrier Ooredoo has decided to bid for the insolvent owner of Turkey's biggest telecommunications company to rival an offer from Saudi Telecom Co, three people with knowledge of the matter said.
Ooredoo will seek to acquire Ojer Telekomunikasyon, or Otas, a special purpose vehicle that owns 55% of Turk Telekomunikasyon, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The Saudi proposal remains on the table, they said.
A purchase by Ooredoo would extend the Doha-based company's record of expanding to serve about 150mn customers from Algeria to Myanmar, largely through acquisitions. The plan by Saudi Telecom, which owns 35% of Otas's parent, Oger Telecom, involves buying the company via a $750mn cash injection and committing to restructure a further $4bn of debt.
In Turkey's largest syndicated loan default, Otas missed three payments since September 2016 on $4.75bn it borrowed from 29 local and international banks in 2013. Creditors including Akbank, Turkiye Garanti Bankasi and Turkiye Is Bankasi hired Lazard Ltd and Raiffeisen Investment to help with negotiations over the loan, according to people familiar with the plan. Other parties to the talks are the Turkish Treasury, which has a 25% stake in Turk Telekom, and Saudi Telecom.
Saudi Arabia is going through major upheaval following the arrest of wealthy princes, officials and businessmen in the kingdom earlier this month.
Otas's creditors may seek further proposals, according to the people. Representatives of Otas and Ooredoo declined to comment.
The Turkish Treasury gave Otas 60 days from early August to find a solution to the debt situation and warned that it might exercise its right under a shareholders agreement to take control of Turk Telekom's management, people familiar with the matter have said.
Akbank is owed about $1.5bn under the facility, Garanti Bankasi around $1bn and Is Bankasi about $500mn, according to public filings.
Ooredoo will seek to acquire Ojer Telekomunikasyon, or Otas, a special purpose vehicle that owns 55% of Turk Telekomunikasyon, sources said.
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