Turkey Hires Advisers to Sell $10 Billion of Seized Firms

Turkey hired three local institutions to advise on the sale of 596 companies it seized because of alleged links to terror organizations.

The Savings Deposit Insurance Fund, known by its Turkish acronym of TMSF, picked Turkiye Sinai Kalkinma Bankasi AS, or TSKB, Vera Varlik Yonetim AS and Garanti Yatirim Menkul Kiymetler AS to advise on the sale of companies, the Istanbul-based fund said in a statement on its website on Wednesday. Firms will be grouped together and sold off in three three separate tranches.

The confiscated entities include three commodities-related companies owned by Turkish businessman Akin Ipek, such as gold miner Koza Altin Isletmeleri AS and coal and power producer Ipek Dogal Enerji Kaynaklari Arastirma ve Uretim AS. Other companies that feature on the list span industries from construction and energy to carpet making.

A large number of the companies TMSF is offering to buyers were taken over for their alleged support of self-exiled Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by the Turkish government of attempting to topple President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a coup in July. More than 100,000 people have been jailed, fired or suspended from office in a government purge since the failed attempt for their alleged links to the Gulen movement, which the government has labeled as a terror organization.

Coup Plotters

TSKB, a unit of Turkiye Is Bankasi AS, will be in charge of finding buyers for the first group of 144 companies such as Naksan Holding AS, which includes listed carpet maker Royal Hali, according to the fund’s website. Vera, a manager of non-performing loans that it buys from banks, will sell the second group that has 241 companies, including some of Ipek’s assets and several construction companies. The third group, which will be sold by Garanti Yatirim, has 211 companies, including Boydak Holding AS and some schools.

Ipek vowed a court challenge from self-imposed exile if the government sells the assets it seized from him. In his first public comments since authorities confiscated 18 of his companies in September, Ipek said he followed the law in building his Koza Ipek conglomerate. He said he’s prepared to sue if the units are sold.

TMSF didn’t say when and how the sale process will be implemented.

Deputy Prime Minister Nurettin Canikli said earlier this month that controlling stakes in almost 600 companies have been transferred to TMSF for allegedly aiding terrorism. The fate of these shares will depend on the ongoing criminal investigations, he told parliament.

If a terrorism link is established, then they’ll be sold. If not, they’ll be returned to their original owners. A TMSF official last month estimated that the seized assets are worth almost $10 billion.