Bloomberg – Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) has hired Citigroup, EFG Istanbul Securities and Ak Investment as advisers on the sale of its natural-gas grid operator.
Türkiye’s largest city is seeking USD 10 billion from selling stakes in the grid company Istanbul Gaz Dagitim AS (IGDAS) and the ferry operator Istanbul Deniz Otobusleri AS, (IDO) as reported by the press, citing council records. The gas grid, known as IGDAS, has around 4.2 million customers and sold almost 4 billion cubic meters gas, about 10 percent of Türkiye’s annual demand, in 2008, according to its website.
The bids for advising on the sale were collected in January and also included interest from Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch, Calyon, Credit Suisse Group AG and Turkiye Sinai Kalkinma Bankasi AS, Oyak Menkul Degerler AS, people familiar with the process said in January.
Istanbul’s assembly voted in favor of a plan to sell stakes in IGDAS and IDO, Mayor Kadir Topbas said in an interview on Feb. 17. “We will complete the sale in 2010,” he said, referring to the IGDAS sale.