The big ones line up for Turkish TV …
minimum bid: just over €1 billion…

By Michael Hedges, followthemedia

A short Reuters item mentions ProSiebenSat, CME, News Corp, RTL Group and Greek TV operator ANT1 paying the $50,000 for documents from the Turkish recovery agency State Deposits and Insurance Fund handling the auction of Turkish TV channel ATV and newspaper Sabah. Actually ATV and Sabah are only part of the 73 media companies once owned by Turgay Ciner and confiscated for bad debts, among other reasons. Kanal 1 and several regional TV stations are part of the package.

Turkish media watchers have been more atuned to whether or not Dogan Yayin Holding Group will scoop up all or part. Two weeks ago Dogan Group CEO Nebil Ilseven issued an unequivocal statement the he would not under any circumstances bid. “Our concern for the tenders is emerging out of the prominent position of media in Turkey in addition to our professional a commercial responsibilities,” he said. Dogan Group was outbid by private equity firms KKR and Permira for ProSiebenSat. Then Dogan sold 25% of its radio and TV subsidiary to Axel Springer, which had earlier bid for ProSiebenSat. And Springer still owns a 12% piece of the new ProSiebenSat. CME, News Corp and RTL Group have the absolutely necessary experience with local partnerships; significant as Turkish law won’t let foreign investors control more than 25% of a media outlet.

On that issue ProSiebenSat (KKR/Permira) is untested, but its main advantage is virtually unlimited access to cash. News Corp already owns a TV channel in Turkey, with partners. CME already has the attention of the investment community and has a great story to tell about emerging markets. RTL Group really needs a deal with scale. A successful bid from ANT1 Group would be interesting, not the least for the geo-political issue. It’s the biggest private broadcaster in Greece, with an international footprint in satellite TV as well as radio and TV stations in Bulgaria and Macedonia.