ISTANBUL, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Three Turkish banks will begin legal proceedings to take a stake in Turk Telekom after its largest shareholder, Oger Telecom, failed to make three repayments on a $4.75 billion loan, the Hurriyet daily reported on Tuesday.
It cited unspecified sources as saying the three largest creditor banks had agreed with the communications ministry to begin proceedings to claim stakes in the fixed-line operator from Oger in return for the unpaid loan.
Hurriyet daily did not specify the names of the creditor banks.
Oger Telecom, which has a 55 percent stake in Turk Telekom, took out the loan in May 2013 from a consortium of 30 banks. Since then it has missed three $290 million repayments on the loan, and negotiations around a potential sale and restructuring began over a year ago.
Among its creditor banks, Akbank extended $1.5 billion, Garanti lent it some $1 billion and Isbank some $500 million, according to the banks’ third-quarter financial statements.
The company’s largest creditor banks declined to comment on the report.
Garanti Bank, Isbank and Akbank reclassified Oger Telecom’s debt as “closely watched” at the end of 2017. (Reporting by Ebru Tuncay; Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Daren Butler and Hugh Lawson)
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