Seized media assets of Turkish group suddenly sold to the winning contractor of Istanbul's 3rd airport

Hürriyet – Aysel Alp

Three Turkish firms, Kolin, Limak and Cengiz, have reportedly acquired Akşam daily, SKY 360 TV channel and Alem Radio, which were all seized by Turkey’s state-run Savings Deposit and Insurance Fund (TMSF) in May from Turkish conglomerate Çukurova Group.

“We will pay $60 million for these media assets,” Mehmet Cengiz, owner of Cengiz Group said.

Limak Holding head, Nihat Özdemir, said they had wanted to be in the media business for a long time. “When Mr. Cengiz offered to acquire these assets together, I said ‘yes’ without any hesitation,” he noted.

The TMSF appointed a former ruling party deputy as the editor-in-chief of Akşam newspaper in June.

Meanwhile, Kolin, Limak and Cengiz have recently won many tenders together, including the 22 billion-euro third airport of Istanbul.