The share of the Turkey Wealth Fund in Borsa Istanbul Stock Exchange (BIST) will not fall below 51 percent, according to a decision taken at the Borsa Istanbul A.Ş.'s Ordinary General Assembly meeting.
This limit was introduced to prevent a sale which could lead to a change in the dominant public offer, according to sources, as reported in Turkish daily Dünya. The last amendment indicates that the BIST's public offering rate can be technically at most 49 percent.
"We can consider the public offering after the determination of the value of Borsa İstanbul and the normalization of expectations in our country. This is not on our agenda at the moment," Sovereign Wealth Fund General Manager Zafer Sönmez reportedly said at the board meeting.
Meanwhile, it was learned that preferred stocks were excluded at the meeting. This step was taken on the grounds that foreign investors would not favor the preferred stocks during the initial public offering, the sources further noted.
While the Sovereign Wealth Fund's Group A golden shares were lifted, Borsa Istanbul's board of directors was also restructured.
After Borsa Istanbul became a joint-stock company, the number of board members was set at 10. Furthermore, with the lifting of the privileges, there will be no member representing the Turkish Capital Markets Association and portfolio management sector, thus bringing down the number of members from 10 to nine.
