Turkish entrepreneur Mehmet Karamehmet's Cukurova Group has won the opportunity to regain control of mobile operator Turkcell following a court decision by the UK Privy Council in its case against Russian conglomerate Alfa, according to the Financial Times. However, a decision concerning the amount Cukurova will need to pay Alfa’s telecoms subsidiary Altimo to take back the controlling stake in Turkcell, which represents only 13.8 percent of Turkcell’s shares, is yet to be taken by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. At the same time, the deadline by which Cukurova needs to come up with the money was not established, either.
In its decision, the Privy Council said Alfa rightfully appropriated the controlling stake in Turkcell after Cukurova had defaulted on a USD 1.4 billion loan in 2007. Nonetheless, the court said the Turkish group should have the opportunity of regaining control of the shares as Cukurova had subsequently sought to repay the loan in the face of resistance from Alfa.
The disputed 13.8 percent stake in Turkcell’s shares yields control of a 51 percent stake in the group due to the way the stock is owned by a pyramid structure of companies. In the coming weeks and months, a decision by the Privy Council will determine the surplus to the USD 1.4 billion Cukurova would have to pay to redeem the loan as a result of interest and costs.
