Sabancı share sale request a move for dividends
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Oktay Özdabakoğlu - Referans
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 13, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - The share sale applications to the Central Registry Agency, or CRA, by the non-managing partners of Turkey’s leading two companies at first glance seem a cause for significant drop in the value of both stocks, but this may not necessarily be the case.
The applications to the CRA, concerning the sale of the stocks representing 8.37 percent of Akbank, the country's biggest bank by market value, and 15.8 percent in Sabancı Holding, the second-largest industrial and financial conglomerate, do not technically mean the immediate sale of these stocks. The applications cover a period of 10 to 20 years for sale. It is legally necessary for companies trading at the bourse to have CRA register their stocks that are not trading on the bourse.
At Akbank, which has a capital of 3 billion Turkish Liras, Ali İsmail Sabancı, Can Köseoğlu, Demet Çetindoğan, Emine Kamışlı, Kazım Köseoğlu, Ömer Sabancı, Özcan Sabancı, Şevket Sabancı and Zerrin Sabancı applied to the CRA for the sale of 251 million shares. At Sabancı Holding, which has a capital of 1.8 billion liras, Ali İsmail Sabancı, Can Köseoğlu, Emine Kamışlı, Kazım Köseoğlu, Şevket Sabancı and Zerrin Sabancı applied to the CRA for the sale of 285 million shares. The CRA record of the stocks that are not trading at the bourse is legally needed for the firms to benefit from dividends. The individuals or institutions that do not have their stocks recorded do not have the right to obtain dividends. The partners that are not included in the management of Akbank and Sabancı Holding have always had the right to sell these stocks.
However, these two companies, which distribute significant amounts of dividends each year, stand as an important source of income for partners. Within the last five years, Akbank and Sabancı distributed dividends worth $1.4 billion and $600 million, respectively. The partners that have applied to the CRA obtained $120 million in dividends at Akbank and approximately $100 million at Sabancı Holding within the last five years.
The fact that the sale process was stated as 10 to 20 years in the applications is an indication that these partners do not consider selling in the short term.
Not wise to sell now
The low prices of Akbank and Sabancı shares make the stock sale difficult, at least in the short run. The market value of Akbank, which stood at $22.5 billion last year, stood at $7.8 billion as of this week. On the other hand, Sabancı’s value dropped from $10 billion to $3.2 billion.
The value of the Akbank stocks, which was $1.9 billion a year ago, had declined to $657 million as of Wednesday. The value of those in Sabancı dropped from $1.6 billion to $500 million. Thus, shareholders that have applied to the CRA will definitely not hurry to sell.
The move does not pertain to the aim of sale, said Emine Kamışlı, one of the shareholders. "This is not a sale, but a listing. We have had stocks listed at the stock exchange, as we did not implement it before. Nobody would sell in such a climate."
Noting that the reason to have stocks listed at the stock exchange is low listing prices, Kamışlı said, "When the value of companies drop, listing prices also fall.
This listing does not aim to sell, but it is a move to bring the stocks to the level of their worth."
At Akbank, which has a capital of 3 billion Turkish Liras, Ali İsmail Sabancı, Can Köseoğlu, Demet Çetindoğan, Emine Kamışlı, Kazım Köseoğlu, Ömer Sabancı, Özcan Sabancı, Şevket Sabancı and Zerrin Sabancı applied to the CRA for the sale of 251 million shares. At Sabancı Holding, which has a capital of 1.8 billion liras, Ali İsmail Sabancı, Can Köseoğlu, Emine Kamışlı, Kazım Köseoğlu, Şevket Sabancı and Zerrin Sabancı applied to the CRA for the sale of 285 million shares. The CRA record of the stocks that are not trading at the bourse is legally needed for the firms to benefit from dividends. The individuals or institutions that do not have their stocks recorded do not have the right to obtain dividends. The partners that are not included in the management of Akbank and Sabancı Holding have always had the right to sell these stocks.
However, these two companies, which distribute significant amounts of dividends each year, stand as an important source of income for partners. Within the last five years, Akbank and Sabancı distributed dividends worth $1.4 billion and $600 million, respectively. The partners that have applied to the CRA obtained $120 million in dividends at Akbank and approximately $100 million at Sabancı Holding within the last five years.
The fact that the sale process was stated as 10 to 20 years in the applications is an indication that these partners do not consider selling in the short term.
Not wise to sell now
The low prices of Akbank and Sabancı shares make the stock sale difficult, at least in the short run. The market value of Akbank, which stood at $22.5 billion last year, stood at $7.8 billion as of this week. On the other hand, Sabancı’s value dropped from $10 billion to $3.2 billion.
The value of the Akbank stocks, which was $1.9 billion a year ago, had declined to $657 million as of Wednesday. The value of those in Sabancı dropped from $1.6 billion to $500 million. Thus, shareholders that have applied to the CRA will definitely not hurry to sell.
The move does not pertain to the aim of sale, said Emine Kamışlı, one of the shareholders. "This is not a sale, but a listing. We have had stocks listed at the stock exchange, as we did not implement it before. Nobody would sell in such a climate."
Noting that the reason to have stocks listed at the stock exchange is low listing prices, Kamışlı said, "When the value of companies drop, listing prices also fall.
This listing does not aim to sell, but it is a move to bring the stocks to the level of their worth."