Turkcell, the provider of mobile communications in Turkey, has announced that it signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement to acquire a 80% stake in Belarusian Telecommunications Network (BeST). The completion of the transaction will be subject to the fulfillment of the conditions set forth in the SPA.
The stake will be acquired from the State Committee on Property of the Republic of Belarus for a consideration of US$500 million. The payment is expected to be realized in 3 tranches of which US$300 million is expected to be paid on the closing date, which is expected to be 30 days after the signature date and additional US$100 million tranches are expected to be paid on December 31, 2009 and 2010 respectively. An additional payment of US$100 million shall be made when BeST records a full-year positive net income for the first time.
Turkcell CEO Sureyya Ciliv commented: "The acquisition of BeST represents an opportunity for Turkcell to gain access to a market with a growth potential. Belarus is an attractive emerging market within Turkcell's growth geography with its young and well educated population and steadily growing economy. We are also happy to be starting our operations with an already established third operator in Belarus. We believe we can use our complimentary skills we gained in Ukraine and CIS very effectively in Belarus to differentiate BeST as soon as possible.