Investment firm Providence Equity Partners, Turk Telecom and the Canal+ group are among the possible buyers of Turkish DTH platform Digiturk.
According to local reports by Bloomberg and news channel HaberTurk, the state’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) has seized all assets of the Çukurova Group, majority owners of Digiturk as well as the Show TV broadcaster.
The reason for the seizure is that fact that the companies belonging to the Çukurova group ran into financial difficulties and are not able to make any payments.
In a statement, Digiturk assured its partners that the move by TMSF will have no impact on the platform’s subscribers and the business relation with its local dealerships.
Providence currently owns 47% of the Digiturk platform. In 2011 the Canal+ Group unsuccessfully tried to buy these shares. At the time, the company was valued at around one billion euros.
French press reports now suggest, that Canal might be interested in acquiring part or the whole of Digiturk. Incumbent Turk Telecom was quick to publicly deny the company was after acquiring its rival platform.
