Ruling hits TeliaSonera

Bloomberg

In 2005, Çukurova Holding sold Alfa Group a 13 percent stake in Turkcell, Turkey’s biggest mobile-phone company. TeliaSonera asked the court this month to annul the transfer, Yalın Akmenek, a lawyer for Çukurova Holding, said in a telephone interview Friday.

"I can confirm that the court has rejected our preliminary injunction request due to the complexity of the case," said TeliaSonera Vice President for Corporate Communications Jacob Broberg. "At the same time it is important to say that this means that the court will handle our request as a whole at a later stage."

Çukurova Holding still controls Turkcell with a 14 percent stake because of the mobile-phone company’s ownership structure. TeliaSonera claimed that Çukurova breached a shareholders agreement by selling the stake to Alfa Group. TeliaSonera, Sweden’s largest phone company, holds 37 percent of Turkcell.