TeliaSonera said the court in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) has issued a judgement granting its application for the sale of shares in a holding company in the Cukurova Group, which indirectly holds shares in Turkcell. The judgement is made in proceedings to enforce an arbitral award from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) made in TeliaSonera’s favour in September 2011 of USD 932 million in damages, plus interest and costs.
The judgement of the BVI court represents one step of many in a long-running series of disputes in relation to the ownership of Turkcell. It is to be followed by a final sale order, which may be subject to an appeal by Cukurova. The judgement does not resolve the existing and complex dead-lock between the shareholders of Turkcell, said TeliaSonera.
In the event that a sale of the shares takes place, then LetterOne, an investment company formerly known as Alfa/Altimo, is entitled under certain circumstances to receive part of the amount collected by TeliaSonera, in accordance with an agreement from 2009. TeliaSonera has not recorded any award amount receivable in its financial statements.
