Saudi Telecom Co. is offering to inject $750 million (Dh2.75b) into Turk Telekomunikasyon AS’s owner as Turkey steps up pressure to resolve debt talks on a $4.75 billion loan, people familiar with the matter said.
In a new proposal presented to creditors at the end of July, STC said it’s willing to inject $750 million of additional equity into Otas, which owns 55 percent of Turk Telekom, and restructure the remaining $4 billion in two new loans with tenures of up to 10 years, said the people, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
STC is also offering to acquire Otas, an Ankara-based special purpose vehicle, or all its stake in Turk Telekom, one of the people said. STC currently holds an indirect stake in Otas through its ownership of a 35 percent stake in Oger Telecom, which fully owns Otas.
Banks and STC have been locked in debt talks for almost a year after Otas failed to pay the September installment on the loan, the country’s biggest-ever syndicated facility. Otas struggled to make the dollar-denominated loan repayments after the lira’s slump dented the converted value of Turk Telekom’s local-currency dividends. Turkey’s Treasury gave Otas 60 days from early August to find a solution for the debt talks before it may take control of the company’s management, the people said.
Lenders have until mid-September to respond to STC’s proposal, one of the people said. Turk Telekom, Oger and STC all declined to comment.
Otas has missed two installments of $290 million each on the loan it took in 2013 from 29 Turkish and international banks. Akbank TAS has about $1.5 billion in exposure to the loan, Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS about $1 billion and Turkiye Is Bankasi AS about $500 million, according to their public filings.
Indika
Developer: 11 Bit Studios
Publisher: Odd Meter
Console: PlayStation 5, PC and Xbox series X/S
Rating: 4/5
The Uefa Awards winners
Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League
Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)
Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona
Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
Stan Lee
Director: David Gelb
Rating: 3/5
The five pillars of Islam
Roll of Honour, men’s domestic rugby season
West Asia Premiership
Champions: Dubai Tigers
Runners up: Bahrain
UAE Premiership
Champions: Jebel Ali Dragons
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
UAE Division 1
Champions: Dubai Sharks
Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins II
UAE Division 2
Champions: Dubai Tigers III
Runners up: Dubai Sharks II
Dubai Sevens
Champions: Dubai Tigers
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes
Representing UAE overseas
If Catherine Richards debuts for Wales in the Six Nations, she will be the latest to have made it from the UAE to the top tier of the international game in the oval ball codes.
Seren Gough-Walters (Wales rugby league)
Born in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, and once an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi, she debuted for Wales in rugby league in 2021.
Sophie Shams (England sevens)
With an Emirati father and English mother, Shams excelled at rugby at school in Dubai, and went on to represent England on the sevens circuit.
Fiona Reidy (Ireland)
Made her Test rugby bow for Ireland against England in 2015, having played for four years in the capital with Abu Dhabi Harlequins previously.
The biog
Full name: Aisha Abdulqader Saeed
Age: 34
Emirate: Dubai
Favourite quote: "No one has ever become poor by giving"
Fixtures
Wednesday, April 3
Arsenal v Luton Town, 10.30pm (UAE)
Manchester City v Aston Villa, 11.15pm (UAE)
Thursday, April 4
Liverpool v Sheffield United, 10.30pm (UAE)