"Lusail" inaugrates with Turkey's ATV-Sabah amid speculations

"Lusail International Media Company ("Lusail") announces that it has been established to act as a dedicated media subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority and that it will be managed as a separate specialist media company," Lusail said in a statement.

Lusail reminded of a previous statement released by Turkey's Calik Group regarding the ATV-Sabah sale in which the Qatari partner's name was announced as "Al Wasaeel International Media Company," and informed this was caused by a "translation error from Arabic."         Â

On Tuesday, the shares of Turkey's second largest media company, Sabah and ATV, transferred to the media company, Turkuvaz Radyo Televizyon, a subsidiary of the Calik Group, following the cash transfer of $1.1 billion. Calik has said Qatar-based media company, Al Wasaeel International Media Co., had purchased 25 percent of shares in Turkuvaz.           Â

"We have been considering this investment opportunity for several months and our intention is to build up a global portfolio of interests in the media sector where we will act as long term supportive shareholders," a spokesman for Lusail added.

The situation raised questions over the sale of ATV-Sabah as the main opposition People’s Republican Party (CHP) submitted a motion to parliament demanding the details of the transaction. The CHP says the transaction was financed by state-owned banks, with no other details available, and questions as to the identity of the foreign investor.

Vatan daily reported on Friday the interest rates of the loans provided by Vakifbank and Halkbank are 485 basis points (bps) over LIBOR, taking the interest rate to 7.88 percent according to Thursday's rates.

Vatan also said there will be no repayment on the principal amount for three years and this will give a $225 million advantage to the Calik Group. The daily also noted that this rate is below its market peers, and even the yields of the government’s external bonds.

TURKEY-QATAR RELATIONS
Local media previously speculated that the Calik Group was struggling to raise the financial resources for the transaction and the auction could be canceled. ATV-Sabah is a new entity comprising of assets seized by the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) from the unlisted conglomerate, Ciner Group, in April last year, citing that irregularities had surfaced.

The group includes one of Turkey's best-selling newspapers, Sabah, and popular entertainment network, ATV. The TMSF board had set a minimum sale price of $1.1 billion; Calik was the only bidder.

Media underlined the intensified official relations and visits between Turkish and Qatari administrations in recent months.

Hurriyet daily said the outlines of the partnership between the Qatar Investment Authority and the Calik Group were drawn in January, when Ahmet Calik, the chairman of the group, attended a Syrian visit of President Abdullah Gul, who introduced him to Qatar Emir Hamad bin Khalifa.

It also added that Calik accompanied Gul in February and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in April in their visits to Qatar. The Qatar Investment Authority decided to establish a separate company to invest in ATV-Sabah a couple of months ago.

Calik officials have so far declined to comment on the speculation regarding the sale appearing in the media.