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conglomerate Demiroren Group’s media assets, according to speculation carried by Turkish media outlets. Local news portal Medyaradar, which last month also reported that the Turkish Turkuvaz Group was in talks to buy Demiroren’s media assets, this time claimed that national oil company Socar had approached the conglomerate to become a partner in Demiroren media operations. Serhat Albayrak, deputy general manager of Turkuvaz Media Group, was said to be managing and advising on the sale process. Serhat Albayrak is the brother of Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, who is the son-in-law of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to Medyaradar, if the planned stake sale went through, some operations of Demiroren Medya and Turkuvaz Media would be merged. Demiroren has already dismissed the news portal’s reports on the possible asset sale to Turkuvaz Group or Socar. Demiroren bought Dogan’s media companies— dailies Hurriyet and Posta, TV channels Kanal D and CNN Turk, Dogan News Agency and Dogan Media International—as well as the licences of Radyo D and CNN Türk Radyo for a total consideration of $893mn. Demiroren, which operates in the energy, manufacturing, tourism, real estate development and e-commerce sectors, reportedly took a $675mn loan from state- owned lender Ziraat to finance the acquisition. The company is said to have run into financial problems since the acquisition, thus it is looking for a buyer or a partner for its media operations.
The circulations of the Demiroren-controlled newspapers have plunged, and that the popularity of the group’s TV channels has sunk since the conglomerate took over those media assets.
Not only Demiroren Group, but the entire Turkish media industry is going through a very difficult period. The industry is dominated by media outlets that support strongman leader Erdogan. Data from the country’s statistics office, TUIK, showed that this month the number of newspapers and magazines in Turkey declined by 2.6% y/y to 5,962. The annual combined circulation of local newspapers and magazines nosedived 18% y/y to 1.4mn.
The Azerbaijanis already have a presence in the Turkish media. Azerbaijan’s Global Media Group launched a news channel, Haber Global, at the end of last year, but it is not very popular to date.
Online gaming company GVC Holdings on July 8 denied a report that Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Alexander last year sold the company’s Turkish unit to a business partner to push through the acquisition of rival Ladbrokes. GVC disposed its Turkey business for no charge to a firm called Ropso Malta in 2018 and said it would book a €46mn loss on the sale after lenders for the Ladbrokes deal baulked at its exposure to a country where internet betting is illegal. Ropso is backed by individuals that provided IT services for its Turkish business, according to Reuters. It was incorporated five days before GVC announced the sale of its Turkish assets to the company, the news service reported. GVC had initially agreed to sell the business for as much as €150mn (£148.5mn), before it struck the much bigger Ladbrokes deal. The company, however, said on July 8 the Turkish business was sold following a competitive process overseen by investment bank Houlihan Lokey and that all details were fully disclosed in previous announcements. “The board also categorically refutes suggestions that the group, or senior management, continue to benefit from any operations servicing the Turkish market,” GVC said. GVC entered the Turkish betting sector by acquiring local Superbahis back in 2011 for a consideration of £125mn from the UK’s Sportingbet. According to some estimates, the Turkish illegal gambling industry generates as much as $11.4bn a year.
9.2.7 Utilities corporate news
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Black Sea Trade and
71 TURKEY Country Report August 2019 www.intellinews.com