The Turkish national flag, and the Borsa Istanbul flag hang inside the stock exchange in Istanbul. Formed in 2013 in a restructuring that brought Turkey’s equity, debt, derivatives and precious metal markets under one roof, Borsa Istanbul sold a 5% stake to Nasdaq OMX Group Inc the same year.
Bloomberg/New York/London
Turkey’s stock exchange is in talks to sell a minority stake to investors including Silver Lake Management and Warburg Pincus as it prepares for an initial public offering next year, people familiar with the matter said.
The stake sale may value Borsa Istanbul at about $1bn, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. The exchange is looking for investors that can provide technology and expertise to help it go public by 2016, one of the people said.
Formed in 2013 in a restructuring that brought Turkey’s equity, debt, derivatives and precious metal markets under one roof, Borsa Istanbul sold a 5% stake to Nasdaq OMX Group Inc the same year. The exchange, which is in the process of upgrading its software to facilitate high-frequency trading, decided to sell about one third of its shares in a private placement before proceeding with an IPO, chief executive officer Ibrahim Turhan said in an interview last month.
Companies often sell a minority stake ahead of an IPO to establish a market value and to lure other investors.
“We want to make sure that our IPO deal is sponsored strongly by respected names,” Turhan said in the interview. He declined to identify bidders for the stake.
Spokesmen for the exchange, Silver Lake and Warburg Pincus declined to comment.
