Turkish media owner Demiroren in $1.4 bln restructuring talks -source

Hurriyet Gazetecilik ve Matbaacilik

21/09/2021 12:09

ISTANBUL, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Demiroren Holding, Turkey's
largest media owner, is in discussions with lenders to
restructure up to $1.4 billion in loans, including funds used to
acquire newspapers and TV stations in 2018, a senior banker
familiar with the talks said.
    The banker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that
Demiroren, whose holdings including energy, real estate and
other assets, aims to restructure one larger loan from Ziraat
Bankasi and a smaller one from other private and state banks. 
    The banker, along with another source, said Demiroren was
unable to book profits from its 2018 purchase of daily Hurriyet,
broadcaster CNN Turk and other assets from Dogan Holding. 
    This would make it difficult to agree a restructuring, the
banker told Reuters on Tuesday.
    Ziraat, Turkey's largest bank, declined to comment. 
    A Demiroren spokesperson did not immediately respond to a
Reuters request for comment on the restructuring talks, which
were earlier reported by Bloomberg.
    Dogan was long seen as a pillar of Turkey's secular
establishment and its sale of papers and TV and radio stations
to pro-government Demiroren shifted Turkey's mainstream media
overwhelmingly behind President Tayyip Erdogan. 

 (Reporting by Ebru Tuncay; Writing by Jonathan Spicer; Editing
by Alexander Smith)
 ((jonathan.spicer@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
jonathan.spicer.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net 
@jonathanspicer))