Çalık Group’s TV channels up for sale

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

TPG Capital, KKR & Co LP and Time Warner are in talks to buy media assets from Turkey’s Çalık Holding, which include Sabah newspaper and ATV television, four people familiar with the situation said, according to Bloomberg News.
Two sources said Germany’s RTL was also interested in such an acquisition, Reuters reported, adding that the initial offers will be collected through Jan. 18. “The price [Çalık] demands is nearly 15-fold of the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, which is really high,” one source said. 
Çalık Holding hired Goldman Sachs Group to advise on the sale, said sources, who declined to be identified because the talks are private, Bloomerg reported.
Gavin Davis, a spokesman for TPG at public relations agency Pelham Bell Pottinger, did not return calls seeking comment. Turkuvaz Media Group, Çalık’s unit that owns daily Sabah and ATV channels, did not reply to emailed questions. Also, KKR did not answer emailed questions. 
Time Warner’s chief in Turkey, Efe Onbilgin, did not respond to calls to his cell phone seeking comment. k HDN