Pro-government businessman Galip Öztürk’s Metro Holding announced in a statement to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) on Wednesday that it is planning to buy out Koza-İpek Holding.
“The board of directors has authorized the TARA consulting firm to start talks on the acquisition of all shares of the government-confiscated Koza-İpek Holding on Oct. 12,” the statement said.
The state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) earlier seized Koza-İpek Holding over its links to the Gülen movement, which the government accuses of masterminding a coup attempt on July 15.
Akın İpek, the former CEO of the conglomerate, said 18 of the group’s confiscated companies alone were worth over $10 billion.
When a bus assistant on one of the intercity buses belonging to Metro Holding’s travel company masturbated on a female passenger in May, CEO Galip Öztürk said it was a plot by the movement.
Metro has also made headlines for numerous deadly traffic accidents in which its buses were involved in the recent past. The pro-government Sabah newspaper also accused movement-linked media outlets, Turkey’s new scapegoat, of extensive coverage on the accidents.
An İstanbul court reversed a life sentence for Öztürk, who had been convicted of incitement to murder, this week.
One of the biggest holdings in the country, Koza İpek holding has interests in numerous sectors including mining, media, energy and insurance.
The government shut down the media outlets of the group prior to the coup attempt as part of its crackdown against the movement. (Turkey Purge)