Chinese ZTE buys stake in Turkey's Netas for $101M

ANKARA

Chinese telecom and mobile equipment group ZTE Corp. has agreed to buy 48.04 percent of Turkish systems integration provider Netas Telekomunikasyon A.S. (NETAS) for 358 million Turkish lira ($101.3 million) in order to expand in Turkey and the region, Netas announced on Tuesday.

The deal is subject to approval by the Turkish Competition Authority. When the transaction completes, the Chinese telecom giant will become the largest shareholder of Netas.

The Turkish Armed Forces Foundation holds 15 percent while the rest is public listed.

"This transaction will equip Netas with additional technologies to provide more services and solutions to its customers and to expand its geographic reach," Netas said in a statement.

“As Turkey’s number one systems integrator, Netas develops software solutions for more than 160 global operators and has been named Turkey’s 'Top Software Exporter' by ICT 500 Turkey Research five times," Mujdat Altay, chief executive officer of Netas, said.

Altay said Netas has been a major architect of Turkey’s digital future and the company will work with ZTE to further address the global marketplace.

"We will engage in an exchange of know-how with ZTE, particularly in the areas of R&D [research and development] and innovation. We also believe this transaction highlights Turkey’s attractiveness as an environment for foreign investors,” he said.

“With Netas’ strong project delivery capabilities, ZTE will further enhance its service capabilities to customers in Turkey as well as several key overseas markets," Zhao Xianming, chairman and chief executive of ZTE Corporation, said.

"Repair and return center, customer support center and training center functionalities at Netas will help ZTE elevate service levels, especially response time, in each respective region,” Xianming added.