Norway’s sovereign wealth fund was a key investor in an IPO underwritten by Tera Yatirim Menkul Degerler AS just two months before the brokerage became the center of the biggest fund scandal in Turkish history. Norges Bank Investment Management bought about 5.2% of the shares in SA-RA Enerji Insaat’s IPO, making it the largest institutional investor in the deal, according to a regulatory filing. Tera led the banks that arranged the 6.23 billion-lira ($127 million) offering, which priced July 17 at 70 liras a share.
SA-RA shares surged 77% through their first full week of trading, only to fall by the limit every day in the second week. The shares have fallen as much as 50% from the IPO price, touching a record intraday low Thursday. SA-RA, an Ankara-based maker of power transmission lines and substations, hasn’t been named in the recent investigation into stock manipulation.
At June 30, NBIM held almost 2 billion kroner ($208 million) in 10 Turkish companies now linked to the investigation, including Tera Yatirim Menkul Degerler itself and Tera Yatirim Teknoloji Holding AS. Turkish prosecutors say investment funds managed by Tera and other firms pumped up shares of some illiquid stocks almost 100-fold. Turkey’s market regulator suspended Tera Yatirim’s operations, and the firm’s chairman Emre Tezmen has been arrested.
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing