Turkcell announces Kuwait and Iraq telco expansion plans

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Reach: Turkcell is bidding for a 26% stake in Kuwait’s third telco.

Leading Turkish mobile phone company Turkcell has revealed it is to apply to take part in pre-qualification for a tender to buy a 26% stake in Kuwait's third mobile phone company.

In a statement to the Istanbul Stock Exchange, the company also said it had decided to consider taking part in tenders for three mobile phone licenses in Iraq.

On July 9 Kuwait said it was inviting companies to express interest in a 26% stake in the Gulf Arab country's third mobile phone company.

"Our company has decided to take part in pre-qualification for the public tender which will be opened for the sale of the 26% stake," Turkcell said.

A committee in Kuwait was to pre-qualify companies for the next round of a public auction process, with potential investors required to give a minimum bidding price for the stake.

Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC), the Gulf's second-largest telecom firm by market value, and National Mobile Telecommunications Company operate networks in Kuwait, a country of three million people.

Kuwait will offer 50% of the third operator to the public and retain the other 24%.

Turkcell already holds interests in GSM operations in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Georgia.

Turkcell's major shareholders are Turkey's Cukurova, Swedish-Finnish telecoms firm TeliaSonera and Russian private equity firm Altimo.

Turkcell is the country's largest mobile phone operator with 32 million customers and was the first ever Turkish company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

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