Istanbul’s gas grid privatization to start in November

ISTANBUL

The privatization process of Istanbul’s gas grid, İGDAŞ, will start in November, Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş has announced.

“We are preparing to make a tender advertisement to start the privatization process of İGDAŞ in November,” Topbaş said.

Some 94.5 percent of İGDAŞ, Turkey’s largest gas distribution company, is owned by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. The company has more than 5 million users and its gas sales surpass 5 billion cubic meters (bcm) a year, according to data from the company website. İGDAŞ made some 4.6 billion Turkish Liras in net revenue and 279 million liras in net profits last year from the sale of 5 bcm gas.

“İGDAŞ is one of the most valuable companies of Turkey and the world. We expect many local and global companies, as well as consortiums, will be interested in buying İGDAŞ,” Topbaş added.

Citigroup and Burgan Investment have been chosen as the advisory institutions for the privatization process, the latest and the largest chain of Turkey’s gas grid privatizations.

In 2013, Ankara’s gas grid, Başkent Gaz, was privatized for $1.1 billion and sold to the Torunlar company. Başkent Gaz has a total of 1.2 million customers in the Turkish capital.