Turkey's Turkcell sells Ukrainian mobile operator lifecell to French billionaire

Turkish telecom holding Turkcell has announced the sale of its Ukrainian business, including mobile operator lifecell.

Here's What We Know

Turkcell is selling not only lifecell, but also its subsidiaries: Global Bilgi LLC (call centre network) and Ukrtauer LLC (telecom towers). The nominal value of the sold shares is UAH 12.7bn ($333.4m) for lifecell, UAH 47.2m for Global Bilgi Ltd and UAH 1.96bn for Ukrtauer Ltd.

"According to the decision of our Board of Directors dated 20 December 2023 (the share transfer agreement was signed on 29.12.2023), there is a transfer of all shares together with all rights and debts on lifecell LLC, Global Bilgi LLC and Ukrtauer LLC, which are our subsidiaries, to NJJ Capital," the statement said.

The transfer of assets has not yet been finalised. The value of the transaction will be determined when it closes.

The buyer is French investment company NJJ Capital, which is owned by billionaire Xavier Niel. He is the founder of French internet service provider and mobile operator Iliad, which operates under the Free brand in France and under the Play brand in Poland, as well as co-owner of newspaper Le Monde and owner of telecom operators Monaco Telecom (Monaco), Salt Mobile (Switzerland) and Eir (Ireland).

Source: Turkcell