Turkish government to sell betting company

Buoyed by the privatizations of Halkbank, toll roads and bridges with a bid a bid of us$5.7 billion, the government is planning to privatize Spor Toto for the “highest privatization bid,” daily Milliyet reported yesterday.

The company increased its income to us$24 billion over the last eight years thanks to “İddaa,” Turkey’s sole legal sports gambling game. The organization also runs another game called “toto,” which is based on estimating the result of football matches. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has ordered the start of the privatization process of Spor Toto, which is considered as the most valuable financial asset of sport industry, the report said.

The tender offer is estimated around us$10 billion, but the last word on it will be declared by the prime minister after examinations on detailed reports prepared by the High Privatization Board. This offer would surpass the highest bid of us$5.7 billion offered by Koç, Gözde and UEM Group’s offer for the tender to privatize highways and bridges.

The model of tender will also be determined by Erdoğan, according to the daily. The model of “direct sale” or “public offering,” which targets mostly long term investors composed of foreign capital, are being discussed as experts defend “public offering” model since it is more profitable.