Telia seeks to cut Turkcell stake as it focuses on Nordics, Baltics

Nordic telecoms firm Telia has said that it is aiming to sell part of its stake in Turkey’s Turkcell to institutional investors as part of its strategy to focus on its Nordic and Baltic operations.

Telia, which has a 38 percent stake in Turkcell, said it was offering around 150 million shares - roughly 6.8 percent of the Turkish firm’s share capital. It plans to sell the shares via an accelerated bookbuilding process, through which a company can sell shares in a short period of time to institutional investors.

If all the shares are sold, Telia’s direct stake in Turkcell will be reduced to 7.2 percent from 14 percent, it said, adding it had no intention of selling shares that represent its indirect interest in Turkcell.

Telia said in 2015 it would gradually abandon its central Asian markets, hit by years of investigations into alleged corruption and problems accessing cash in distant countries.

It said last month it had sold its Tajik operations to the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development.

Telia said BofA Merrill Lynch, Citi and UBS were acting as joint bookrunners for the offering, adding it expected the transaction to settle on May 8.