Fourth Time's A Charm For Tekel Privatisation

Following many failed attempts, the privatisation of state-owned tobacco company Tekel has finally taken place, with British American Tobacco (BAT) winning the rights and beating off three Turkish rivals. The US$1.72bn price tag was towards the top end of market expectations, which had valued Tekel at between US$1.5bn-US$1.8bn, although it is still in line with other tobacco sector takeovers at a multiple of 11.4 times the company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in 2007. This deal will boost BAT's Turkish market share to around 36% from just over 7%, making it number two in the market, behind Philip

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