Turkey Wealth Fund (TWF) is set to borrow around $1.6 billion (TL 23 billion) from a consortium of banks to finance a planned buyout of telecom giant Türk Telekom, according to a Bloomberg report Thursday which cited sources with knowledge of the issue.

The sovereign wealth fund is in advanced talks with the lenders, including those that jointly hold a 55% stake – worth around $1.3 billion based on the current share price – in the telecommunication firm, to secure the loan, sources said, asking not to be identified as the talks are private.

The people said the deal may see Türk Telekom payout accumulated dividends of $200 million.

The terms of the loan are likely to include a two-year payment-free grace period with repayment over the following four years, the report noted.

The TWF and special purpose vehicle company, LYY Telekomünikasyon Inc., which represents the banks holding the 55% stake, declined a request for comment by Bloomberg.

Following the news, shares of Türk Telekom rose as much as 3.9%. The shares were trading 3.1% up as of 5:57 p.m. local time.

The ownership structure of Turkey’s second-largest operator has been a developing topic for years. The shareholder banks, which mostly include local firms, seized the Türk Telekom stake around three years ago after its previous owner defaulted on a multibillion-dollar loan.

Private lenders Akbank, Garanti and Iş Bank are the biggest shareholders in LYY and are likely to provide the lion’s share of the loan to TWF, while state-owned lenders and smaller private banks will also contribute.

Treasury and Finance Ministry owns 25% of the company, including a so-called golden share that gives it management control while the wealth fund currently holds 6.7% of the shares and the remainder is publicly traded.