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Doğan Yayin given 3 months to fix ownership structure irregularities
Doğan Yayın has been accused of violating the law in its sale of ownership shares to German publisher Axel Springer in 2006.
In a written statement released on Tuesday RTÜK noted that during its meeting on Oct. 13 the council evaluated a Ministry of Finance report on Doğan Yayın Holding irregularities. The report was presented to RTÜK on Sept. 18. “Our experts have determined that the ownership structures of media institutions within the Doğan Media Group run contrary to Clause 29 of the RTÜK law,” RTÜK stated.
The clause stipulates that a foreign company can own no more than a 25 percent stake in a private radio or TV station. On Monday the Yeni Şafak and Sabah dailies claimed that the Ministry of Finance report states Doğan Yayın sold a 32.48 percent ownership share to Axel Springer on Dec. 26, 2006, exceeding the 25 percent limit. The same clause also states that a foreign company can only acquire shares in one TV or radio station in Turkey. Audits, however, discovered that Doğan Yayın’s sale to Alex Springer included a combination of shares in 28 firms operating under Doğan Yayın Holding, according to the same dailies’ report.
The statement said that the broadcasting companies operating under Doğan Yayın Holding should revise their ownership structures in accordance with Clause 29 of the law within a three-month period. However, it did not say what measures would be taken in the event that Doğan Yayın fails to lower the size of the stake held by the foreign company and decreases the number of companies whose shares were acquired to one within this period.
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However, in a written statement released on Tuesday through the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) of the İstanbul Stock Exchange (İMKB), referring to RTÜK’s statement on the ownership structure of its companies, Doğan Yayın announced that at present the legal notice has not been received by the group’s companies, adding that another statement will be released if further developments arise.
Doğan Yayın, which controls half of Turkey’s private media market and is the co-owner, with Time Warner, of broadcaster CNN Türk, had previously said in a statement to the stock exchange that it owned shares in broadcasters but that the company itself is not a broadcaster and does not have a broadcasting license.
Meanwhile, in another written statement released on Wednesday through KAP, Doğan Yayın said its subsidiaries D Yapım Reklamcılık ve Dağıtım A.Ş. and Doğan Prodüksiyon Hizmetleri A.Ş., on which liens were placed by the Ministry of Finance after a guarantee for the TL 3.76 billion ($2.53 billion) tax fine raised by Doğan Yayın was rejected by the tax authorities, appealed to the court for a stay of execution. The statement said that no lien was placed on real estate that was shown as part of the guarantee but that their evaluation on the shares which were placed under injunction by the relevant tax offices is still under way.
A record fine of TL 3.76 billion ($2.53 billion) was levied on Doğan Yayın by the Ministry of Finance in early September for evading taxes in a time period covering 2005, 2006 and 2007. Turkey’s tax office asked Doğan Yayın on Sept. 24 to raise TL 4.8 billion ($3.24 billion) within 15 days as a guarantee for the fine. The guarantee is to cover the fine itself plus interest.
The guarantee raised by Doğan on Oct. 9, the final day of the period granted it, was not approved by the tax authority. The Ministry of Finance has put a lien on the companies of the holding, and the relevant tax office has sent a notice to those companies. Doğan Yayın announced last week that the bank accounts of some of its companies had been frozen. Doğan Yayın was separately fined $500 million in February for alleged improprieties connected to the sale of shares to Axel Springer.
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