Doðan Holding to sell all media companies but Hürriyet
Doðan Holding to sell all media companies but Hürriyet
Interesting moves in the media world of Turkey as the Doðan Holding conglomerate's media group, Doðan Yayýn Holding (DYH), announced that it will sell all of the companies in its media business, except for the Hürriyet daily, within three months in an attempt to survive crippling tax fines.
In an interview with Reuters on Monday, DYH Vice Chairman Soner Gedik said that a shortlist for the sale of assets would be ready in a month and that the newspaper Hürriyet would not be included in this first group of assets. Goldman Sachs is advising on the sale.
After the news Hürriyet Gazetecilik shares suffered a 7 percent drop in the early session to TL 1.84 on the Ýstanbul Stock Exchange (ÝMKB), while investor demand drove Doðan Yayýn shares 1.1 percent higher upon prospects that these companies will be saved from the troubled Doðan administration.
According to Bloomberg, RTL Group S.A., KKR & Co. LP, TPG Capital and Time Warner Inc. are among companies interested in buying DYH’s media outlets. The company confirmed in October that it had received bids for its units and said an offer from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp was too low.
DYH has been under the spotlight for irregularities in its accounts and following a series of investigations auditors from the Ministry of Finance ruled the group had to pay TL 4.8 billion in outstanding taxes and fines. The company appealed the fines and following three different court rulings, Doðan was charged with TL 2.2 billion of this amount. Taking interest into account the total amount is over TL 3.5 billion. DYH assets have a total value around $2 billion.
In an interview with Reuters on Monday, DYH Vice Chairman Soner Gedik said that a shortlist for the sale of assets would be ready in a month and that the newspaper Hürriyet would not be included in this first group of assets. Goldman Sachs is advising on the sale.
After the news Hürriyet Gazetecilik shares suffered a 7 percent drop in the early session to TL 1.84 on the Ýstanbul Stock Exchange (ÝMKB), while investor demand drove Doðan Yayýn shares 1.1 percent higher upon prospects that these companies will be saved from the troubled Doðan administration.
According to Bloomberg, RTL Group S.A., KKR & Co. LP, TPG Capital and Time Warner Inc. are among companies interested in buying DYH’s media outlets. The company confirmed in October that it had received bids for its units and said an offer from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp was too low.
DYH has been under the spotlight for irregularities in its accounts and following a series of investigations auditors from the Ministry of Finance ruled the group had to pay TL 4.8 billion in outstanding taxes and fines. The company appealed the fines and following three different court rulings, Doðan was charged with TL 2.2 billion of this amount. Taking interest into account the total amount is over TL 3.5 billion. DYH assets have a total value around $2 billion.
