Qatar becomes 10% shareholder of Turkey's stock exchange

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) – The acquisition of a 10% share in Turkish stock exchange Borsa Istanbul by the Qatari state Investment Authority was completed on Monday.

According to a statement from the Turkiye Wealth Fund (TWF), the transaction size of $200 million implies a total equity value of $2 billion.

Zafer Sonmez, the Turkish fund’s CEO, said the share transfer was one of the very first steps in long-term cooperation between the two sovereign wealth funds.

"This investment will support value creation and strengthen the corporate governance of Borsa Istanbul before an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of the company that we plan to pursue in the medium term," Sonmez noted.

Turkiye Wealth Fund is still the majority shareholder of Borsa Istanbul with 80.6% of its shares, while the remainder are held by prominent local capital markets institutions.

The Qatar Investment Authority is the sovereign wealth fund of the Gulf state.

Last week, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the sale of shares.

Ankara and Doha enjoy strong relations, particularly since the 2017 blockade of the Gulf country by Saudi Arabia and others.

Turkiye Wealth Fund, founded in 2016, holds all or part of the shares of several key Turkish firms, including flag carrier Turkish Airlines, telecommunications giant Turk Telekom, state lenders Ziraat Bankasi and Halkbank, oil company Turkish Petroleum, and stock market Borsa Istanbul.