ANKARA - A Turkish government agency has awarded a consortium led by Chase Manhattan Bank a mandate to arrange the privatization of two petroleum companies.
Officials of the agency, KOI, said the consortium, including Salomon Brothers, Kleinwort Benson, and Turkish Global Securities, would privatize the state refinery company, Tupras Turkiye Petrol Rafinerileri, and refined-product retailer Petrol Ofisi.
Two other consortiums, led by Rothschild and CS Holding's Credit Suisse First Boston, were among other bidders.
Tupras, 97.43% owned by KOI, has an annual refining capacity of 28 million tons. Officials say it controls 85 percent of its market.
Petrol Ofisi has a market share of 56%, selling 9.4 million tons of gasoline a year through 5,700 outlets.
