Turkey extended by one month on Tuesday, February 20, the deadline for a tender for the sale of 51 percent of Turkish Airlines (THY) in response to requests by interested investors. The privatization board said that it would now accept bids until March 30 instead of February 28 as originally announced.
The board had said previously that nine investors were interested in buying the stake without disclosing names. In early February, Swiss airline SAirGroup, which was interested in the tender but which is under financial strains from a strategy of taking holdings in small airlines, said it had decided not to participate because it was undergoing restructuring.
Turkey aims to finalise the sale in April.
The project is a part of a three-year four-billion deal Turkey hammered out with the International Monetary Fund in December 1999 to put its ailing economy in order. The THY flies to 113 destinations with a fleet of 73 planes. —(AFP)
© Agence France Presse 2000
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
