Some creditor banks of struggling Saudi construction giant Oger’s Dubai-based unit Oger Telecom are in unofficial talks to sell its 55% stake in Turkey’ largest telecom operator Turk Telekom, four unnamed source told Reuters on July 13.

The Turkish government has asked some creditor banks to find prospective buyers for the stake and two overseas investors have already expressed interest in the $3.3bn value of the stake, according to Reuters’ sources. The sale could be completed by end-September.

Turk Telekom shares were up 2.09% d/d to TRY6.34 (€1.56) at closing prices on July 13 while benchmark BIST-100 was also up 0.39% to 104,210. Annual loss on Turk Telekom shares amounted to 1.25% versus a 33% y/y rise on the BIST-100.

On July 12, anonymous contacts who are familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the Turkish treasury may take control of Turk Telekom’s management if Oger Telecom’s Otas, which owns 55% of Turk Telekom, fails to outline a plan to resolve a debt issue involving the country’s biggest syndicated loan.

In a letter to Otas on June 23, the treasury said it may exercise its rights to dismiss existing board members and take over its management if Otas cannot agree a restructuring plan with banks for the $4.75bn loan, according to Bloomberg’s anonymous contacts.

Otas obtained the loan from 29 Turkish and international lenders in 2013. It has already missed $290mn worth of repayments on the loan in September 2016 and March and has a repayment scheduled in next September. The outstanding principal is $4.6bn.

Turkish lender Akbank’s exposure to the loan is $1.5bn while Garanti Bankasi’s exposure is $951mn and Is Bankasi lent TRY1.9bn ($532mn).

The treasury’s stake in the telecom giant is 25% and the Turkish government controls a combined 31.68% stake in the company together with newly formed sovereign wealth fund’s 6.68% stake.

Turk Telekom’s net profit declined by 84% y/y to TRY66mn in Q1, due to foreign exchange losses sustained because of the sharp depreciation of the lira.