The Treasury and Finance Ministry yesterday approved the transfer of a majority stake in Türk Telekom to a joint venture company of three Turkish lenders.

Turkey's Akbank, Garanti and İş Bank will take on 55 percent of the shares in Türk Telekom after its parent company Oger Telecom failed to repay loans of $4.75 billion it took out back in 2013.

"According to legal notification from the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, the takeover of Ojer Telekomünikasyon A.Ş.'s [OTAŞ] 55 percent shares in our company, Türk Telekomünikasyon A.Ş. [Türk Telekom], by a special purpose vehicle [SPV], which the creditor banks of OTAŞ would be shareholders, has been approved by the Treasury and Finance Ministry," the company said in a statement to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP).

Oger, owned by Lebanon's Hariri family, received the loans from 29 Turkish and international lenders to buy the stake in Türk Telekom through its Turkish venture OTAŞ.