A DUBAI-BASED telecoms enterprise that controls the main telecoms group in Turkey is on course to become one of the largest listed companies in London, as it puts the finishing touches to an initial public offering (IPO) that could value it at up to $8 billion (£4.2 billion).

Oger Telecom, which has operations in South Africa as well as Turkey, is planning to raise about $1 billion in a move that banking sources believe will value the group at between $7 billion and $8 billion. Such a valuation could point the group towards membership of the FTSE 100 index.

Membership is determined by market capitalisation and is reviewed at quarterly intervals. Oger would need to satisfy certain other requirements, including the proportion of shares freely available to outside investors.

Details of the Oger float will be made final this week, before a planned investor roadshow to rally support. The company is planning a tour of City institutions this month, with the listing expected by the end of the year.

As part of the fundraising, the group is also thought likely to tap the Dubai stock market.

Last year Oger bought a 55 per cent share in Turk Telecom, the Turkish fixed-line operator. The acquisition added to its mobile operations in the country, where it already owned Avea.

The bid was worth more than $6 billion and was the largest Turkish privatisation. Oger is also a big internet service provider, operating in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Jordan. The group is planning to make acquisitions in the Middle East to boost its business. It will also seek to take advantage of privatisation programmes in the region, as it did in Turkey.

Oger Telecom is controlled by Saudi Oger, which is controlled by the family of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister, who was killed last year. Telecom Italia also has a stake. Simon Duffy, the executive vice-chairman and former head of NTL, is a non-executive director of the group.

London plays host to a string of big international companies, including Antofagasta, the Chilean copper miner, and Kazakhmys, the Asian mining group. SeverStal, the Russian steel group, is likely to be added to the FTSE 100 index after its forthcoming flotation.

However, the London exchange has yet to welcome its first large-cap Middle Eastern company. Oger’s decision to list in London is a coup for the London Stock Exchange, which is understood to have been lobbying hard in the Middle East to persuade companies in the region to tap London for fresh capital. The exchange, which has become increasingly active in seeking out overseas companies, has also launched charm offensives in China and India.

The arrival of Oger underpins the growing importance of the United Arab Emirates, and Dubai in particular, as a financial centre. Citigroup and ABN Amro are thought to have been appointed to run the IPO process. Oger recently moved its headquarters operation from Riyadh to Dubai’s International Financial Centre.

BIGGEST LISTINGS

The biggest international floats on the London Stock Exchange in the past two years:

Pyaterochka (retail), based in Russia, raised £312 million

Source: London Stock Exchange

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