Dogan makes $742m Digiturk bid

Turkish conglom Dogan Media Group has submitted a US$742 million bid for a 53% stake in pay-TV operator Digiturk.

Dogan already controls most of country’s media assets, including D-Smart, Turkey’s second largest pay-TV platform after Digiturk.

The new offer, which values Digiturk at US$1.4bn, outstrips a bid by made in July by Turkey’s largest telecoms group Turk Telecom, according to the Financial Times.

In a statement to Borsa Istanbul, Turkey’s stock exchange, Dogan said that it would make further announcements if developments required.

Control of Digiturk, the remaining 47% of which is owned by Providence, the US private equity group, moved up the Turkish news agenda in May when the majority stake was seized by a state insurance deposit fund from Cukurova Holding, a Turkish conglomerate.

It was seized, along with dozens of other companies belonging to Cukurova, because of liabilities relating to Turkey’s 2000-2001 banking crash.

Turkey’s pay-TV market has 4.1 million subscribers in the second quarter, producing revenues of US$26.8 million, up 52% on the previous quarter, according to data from telecoms regulator BTK. Digiturk’s market share was 61.73% and D-Smart’s 38.27% in the three-month period.

Shares in Dogan’s broadcasting unit Dogan Yayin rose 9.52% to 0.68 lira following news of the bid.