State fund postpones sale of vehicle firm BMC

ISTANBUL - Reuters

İzmir-based vehicle manufactuerer BMC is the maker of armored vehicle Kirpi.

Turkey’s state fund said on April 8 it was postponing the sale of armoured vehicle maker BMC, seized from Çukurova Holding a year ago, in a further blow to the conglomerate as it battles to recover a controlling stake in mobile phone operator Turkcell.

The Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) said it was postponing an auction for BMC, whose sale price it had previously estimated at 958 million lira ($454 million), to April 30 from April 10 as it held out for the best possible bid.

The TMSF seized BMC, along with 11 other group companies, from Çukurova last May, alleging that it failed to make payment on $455 million worth of debts owing to the fund.

Çukurova is also in dispute with shareholders in Turkcell, Turkey’s biggest mobile phone operator, over its 13.8 percent share in the firm, a controlling stake due to its complex ownership structure. Russia’s Altimo, an arm of tycoon Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa Group, appropriated the stake when Çukurova defaulted on a $1.35 billion loan.  Çukurova has been ordered to pay around $1.6 billion to Altimo to recover the stake, although the deadline for the payment has repeatedly been postponed.