Qatar officially becomes shareholder of Turkey's stock exchange

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The acquisition of a 10 percent share in Turkey's stock exchange Borsa İstanbul by the Qatari state Investment Authority was completed yesterday (November 30).

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 Sönmez, the Turkey Wealth 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 İstanbul before an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of the company that we plan to pursue in the medium term," Sönmez noted.

Turkiye Wealth Fund is still the majority shareholder of Borsa İstanbul with 80.6 percent 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 have close relations, particularly since the 2017 blockade of the Gulf country by Saudi Arabia and others.

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