The Financial Times reports that Mehmet Karamehmet - chairman and chief executive of the Çukurova holding group - was the subject of an injunction issued by the New York Southern district court which temporarily freezes Çukurova assets ahead of a final decision later in the year.
Controlling stake
The decision could scupper Mr Karamehmet’s hopes of launching a mooted £1.5 - $3 billion deal to regain a controlling stake in Turkcell from Alfa, the conglomerate headed by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman.
When issuing the order – following the petition of Nordic telecommunications group TeliaSonera - Judge Denise Cote said she was unmoved by the consideration ‘that any injunction I issue may very well make it impossible for the redemption transaction to proceed.’
Lost opportunity
David Lindsey, a lawyer for Çukurova, told the court before the injunction was granted that the order ‘will kill the redemption’ as the ‘opportunity will be lost’.
TeliaSonera – itself a shareholder in Turkcell - is pursuing Mr Karamehmet’s group in several jurisdictions, including the US, for as yet unpaid funds, after it was awarded $932m plus interest against Çukurova by a Geneva tribunal in 2011.
Mr Karamehmet has claimed that TeliaSonera is co-operating with Alfa to prevent Çukurova from regaining control of Turkcell.
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