By Emre Peker and Yeliz Candemir
ISTANBUL--Turkey's Cukurova Holding AS on Wednesday secured an
extension on a payment to Russia's Alfa Group to reclaim a
controlling stake in Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS (TKC), the
biggest Turkish mobile-phone operator.
The deadline for the Istanbul conglomerate's payment to the
Moscow-based company is 60 days after a ruling in a separate case
being held in New York, the U.K.'s Privy Council said after a
hearing. Cukurova's payment to Alfa will start accruing interest 19
days after the U.S. court decision.
Billionaire Mehmet Emin Karamehmet's Cukurova must pay $1.56
billion to reclaim a 13.8% stake in a holding company that would
re-establish his control over Turkcell, the U.K. court said in
July. That ruling followed a January 2013 decision granting the
Turkish mogul the right to redeem the shares from Alfa.
Wednesday's ruling in the U.K. court came after Alfa sought a
cut-off date for the payment. The parties in the case could seek to
change the U.K. court's decision, according to an e-mailed
statement from the Privy Council.
"While it was obviously a matter for the Court of Appeals for
the 2nd Circuit [in New York], it would greatly assist the
expeditious resolution of the present dispute if that Court was
able to reach its decision soon," the Privy Council said,
scheduling a Feb. 25 hearing.
Turkcell's shares were little changed after the U.K. court
ruling shortly before 1300 GMT, having already dropped slightly
more than 1% to TRY11.03.
The legal battle for control of Turkcell, in which Sweden's
TeliaSonera AB (TLSN.SK) also holds a stake, has been going on for
more than six years and could end once the Privy Council and U.S.
court, which had ordered Mr. Karamehmet to pay $1 billion to the
Swedish shareholders, reach a conclusion.
Write to Emre Peker at emre.peker@dowjones.com and Yeliz
Candemir at yeliz.candemir@wsj.com
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