Milbank LLP was honoured to receive this year’s Turkish Deal of the Year award at the annual CEE Legal Matters Awards. The deal was a landmark transaction, with Milbank representing Turkish Wealth Fund (Türkiye Varlık Fonu) (“TWF”), a strategic investment arm and equity solutions provider of the Republic of Turkey, and T.C. Ziraat Bankası A.Ş. (“Ziraat Bank”), a Turkish state-owned bank, in relation to the restructuring of the holding company shareholder arrangements, the related debt facilities provided by Ziraat Bank and TWF’s acquisition of 26.2% of the shares of Turkcell İletişim Hizmetleri A.Ş. (“Turkcell”) through its entrance into a series of transaction agreements with, among others, Telia Company, LetterOne, Çukurova Holding and Ziraat Bank.
Completion of this complex transaction ended long-standing disagreements between the indirect shareholders of Turkcell, with TWF becoming the largest shareholder in Turkcell with effective control over the board of directors via 15% privileged shares within its 26.2% shareholding and the ability to appoint five directors out of nine.
The Milbank team was led by Global Project, Energy & Infrastructure Finance consulting partner Clive Ransome and associate Seyda Duman with support from Project, Energy & Infrastructure partner Chris Taufatofua and International Arbitration partner Tom Canning, Corporate associates Andrew Reilly, Helen Sutcliffe and Marta Zieba.
CEE Legal Matters is a print and online publication for and about lawyers interested and working in Europe's emerging legal markets.
