- Veon shares have been in an upward trend since falling to multi-year lows in 2020. Rising oil and gas prices over the last months have been an important driver.
- LetterOne, majority owner of Veon, has recently also increased its stake in Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., a full service telco operator with activities in Turkey, Belarus, Ukraine and the Netherlands.
- Veon and Turkcell are bound to work together more and, if they were merged completely, would form an emerging markets heavy-weight with around 250 million subscribers in 12 countries.
- LetterOne could buy more of the Turkcell free float, but they have to ensure buy-in from the Turkish Wealth Fund, presided over by Erdogan, which controls the Turkcell board.
- Even in the current set-up, Veon and Turkcell are of value to eachother. Synergies are easily found. My bullish thesis for Veon is strengthened by the strong emerging market positioning.
For further details see:
Veon Is Engaged To Turkcell To Become An Emerging Markets Power Couple