Turkey’s Global Yatirim Holding is planning an initial public offering (IPO) by September at the latest for its 95.5%-held liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales subsidiary Naturelgaz, business daily Dunya quoted  the holding’s chairman, Mehmet Kutman, as saying on June 17.

Naturelgaz, established in 2004, accounts for a 20% share in Turkey’s LNG market. It recently signed a share purchase agreement to buy 100% of Socar Turkey LNG, the newspaper also noted.

In January, Global Yatirim Holding applied to Turkey’s Capital Markets Board (SPK) to float Naturelgaz shares.

On June 18, Kutman spoke with BloombergHT,  confirming that the company would go ahead with a Naturelgaz stock market debut “very soon”.

He added that Global Yatirim Holding was considering delisting its Global Ports Holding (GPH)  from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in time but that he was yet to discuss this proposal with the board of directors. The holding was also in talks with a Middle East-based semi-public institution for Antalya Port, Kutman noted.

Global Yatirim Holding listed GPH on the LSE in 2017.

Also on June 17, Bloomberg reported bus operator Metro Turizm was planning an IPO, which would involve offering 50% of the company.

In 2018, Metro Turizm had a fleet of 1,000 buses. It posted a turnover of Turkish lira (TRY) 1.25bn in 2019, the news service also noted.

Metro Turizm is owned by Galip Ozturk, presently a fugitive after a conviction for inciting murder.

Ozturk owns Istanbul-listed Metro Ticari ve Mali Yatirimlar Holding (METRO). Bloomberg regularly conducts phone interviews with Ozturk.

In the latest, last October, the news agency reported that Ozturk was in Georgia. He was cited as saying that people in Turkey stoked up with national feelings were buying national companies.

Earlier this month, a company called Bayrak EBT (BAYRK) held an IPO. Bayrak deals with the production of footwear materials. Ozturk’s brokerage Metro Invest was the intermediary for its flotation.

Meanwhile, Dunya reported on June 16 that the Borsa Istanbul was considering introducing a delay to its planned IPO due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

In more small cap news, Istanbul-listed diagnostic kit maker RTA Laboratories (RTALB) recently filed notifications to the public disclosure platform (KAP) on obtaining approval for its coronavirus test kits from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

 

​For market oddities, Turkey’s bourse takes some beating but the US has lately been bending the minds of anyone who thought they had a grip on sound equity market theory. The story of New York-listed car rental company Hertz (HTZ) is a cracker, demonstrating that nobody knows what’s next round the corner.

Hertz on May 22 filed for bankruptcy—and its share price boomed. Things got stranger when a bankruptcy judge on June 13 granted permission to the company’s debtors to hold a secondary public offering (SPO).

On June 18, Hertz dropped the plans for the SPO. But we’ve entered The Twilight Zone. If the Hertz CEO takes the New York Subway, expect a tunnel or two to vanish.