Tekel Acquisition Approved

Source from:  tr.itsmyiq.com Mar 31, 2008 04/01/2008

Turkey's Competition Board has approved the sale of Tekel's cigarette business assets to British American Tobacco, according to a report in Today's Zaman quoting the board's website. BAT won the tender for Tekel's cigarette interests in January with a $1.72 billion bid. Completion of the transaction, which is still subject to ratification by Turkey's Privatization High Council, will raise BAT's market share in Turkey to about 36 per cent from just over seven per cent. About 110 billion cigarettes are sold in Turkey each year. Enditem