Turkey attracted $5.05 billion in bids at tenders for three state-run electricity-distribution networks, reducing the state's role in the energy sector and bringing much-needed investment to the country's power grids.
The tenders for Ayedas, on the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, Toroslar along the eastern Mediterranean coast and Akdeniz in the region surrounding the city of Antalya in the western Mediterranean had attracted a total 39 bids.
MMEKA Makine, a venture between businessmen Mehmet Emin Karamehmet and Mehmet Kazanci, made the highest bid of $1.813 billion for Ayedas, which has about 2 million customers, while Yildizlar Holding offered a winning $2.075 billion bid for Toroslar, with 2.7 million customers.
Istanbul-based Park Holding, which owns television stations and power plants, made the top bid of $1.165 billion for Akdeniz, which has 1.5 million users.
"The prices were higher compared with previous tenders, probably because bidders took into account the potential growth of the grids as well as Turkey's overall potential," said Elvin Akbulut, an analyst at UniCredit in Istanbul.
"Each company that won is involved in electricity generation so they must have considered the synergies in pricing."
The sales should bring much-needed investment to Turkey's national electricity network as demand for power, rising about 6 percent annually, causes regular shortages and blackouts. Turkey's economy is expected to grow 6.8 percent this year.
The three tenders must still receive regulatory approval before the grids are turned over to their new owners.
The previous sales of 15 other state-controlled distributors raised more than $10 billion.
A dilapidated electricity infrastructure means Turkey loses about 20 percent of power during transmission, according to government data.