Turk Telekom Looking for Fresh M&A

With European telecom and internet infrastructure valuations still way down, there’s another outside buyer looking to take advantage, this time from the southeast. According to Reuters, Turk Telekom’s CEO Tahsin Yilmaz said today that it has allotted up to €300M toward expansion via M&A. 

Turkey’s telecom sector has been gaining clout for several years now, with both its incumbent and competitive operators moving forward. With its position as a terrestrial crossroads to the Middle East and beyond measured against an increasingly dicey Suez Canal it seems likely to grow. So what might Turk Telekom want to buy?

Well, what have they bought before? Two years ago they picked up Invitel’s international business for $297M, and I’m guessing they’re looking to do something similar again. Perhaps some network assets all the way to Paris, Amsterdam, and London would fit the bill.

We’ve seen America Movil buying stakes in European incumbents while getting a bit of a cold shoulder. But I’m guessing that the Turks won’t be interested in minority stakes of that sort given the decades long cold shoulder the country got from the EC over membership. They’ll be looking to buy something straight up.

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Categories: ILECs, PTTs · Mergers and Acquisitions