Turkey plans sale of seized media assets this year

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By Irem Koker

ISTANBUL, June 26 (Reuters) - Seized Turkish media assets including a leading newspaper and broadcaster will go on sale this year, an official said on Tuesday, creating a major opportunity for foreign media companies to enter the sector.

Ahmet Erturk, head of the autonomous regulator the State Deposits and Insurance Fund or TMSF, said it aimed to raise $1.5 billion to $2 billion from the sale of the assets. The TMSF transfers the funds it raises from auctions to the Treasury.

"I believe we will sell these assets before the end of this year," Erturk told reporters, adding that for newspaper Sabah and broadcaster ATV it could try selling shares in the companies rather than the whole asset.

The assets were seized from Ciner Group, a large Turkish conglomerate, as the TMSF said secret agreements between the companies' previous owner and Ciner had recently come to light.

Ciner had tried to fight the seizure in the courts, but a ruling on Monday threw out the appeal.

The assets include one of Turkey's top selling newspapers Sabah, popular broadcaster ATV and the Turkish editions of several magazines including Forbes and Newsweek.

Analysts have said an auction would likely bring strong interest from abroad as the advertising market in European Union candidate Turkey is enjoying fast growth and the Ciner assets are well placed in terms of market share.

Foreigners who have recently bought into the market include Rupert Murdoch's News Corp NWSa.N.

Foreign ownership of broadcasters is limited to 25 percent by law, although foreigners can come in with local partners as Murdoch did and the government has indicated the law could be changed. There is no limit for newspapers.

((Writing by Emma Ross-Thomas, editing by David Holmes; Reuters Messaging: emma.ross-thomas.reuters.com@reuters.net; email: emma.ross-thomas@reuters.com; Tel: +90 212 350 7062))

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