Turkey received four bids for the privatisation of cigarette firm Tekel Sigara, Reuters reports.

According to a government report, British American Tobacco is the only major international cigarette firm to bid. Other bidders include Turkish energy-media conglomerate Dogan Holding in a consortium with Citi Venture Capital International (CVCI) and Turkish cigarette wholesaler Tutsab. Private equity firm Cinven bid with a group of Turkish businessmen under the group name of Strand Investment, while unlisted Turkish builder Limak Insaat bid with PI Turkey.
Analysts said a new smoking ban in Turkey, and Tekel's declining market share, might have reduced interest even though with 115 billion cigarettes smoked a year by Turks, Turkey is one of the world's biggest cigarette markets.
Investors will be asked to raise bids in an auction broadcast live on television, for which no firm date has been set yet, a Privatisation Administration official said.
The sale includes six factories (Istanbul, Adana, Bitlis, Malatya, Samsun-Ballica and Tokat) and Tekel's brands, which include Tekel 2000.
Analysts say Tekel's Turkish cigarette market share has fallen to about 30 per cent, having been overtaken by Altria's 40 per cent in 2007.
The Turkish government initiated the sale of Tekel late last year, the third time it has tried to sell the cigarette maker. Previous attempts failed because the government did not get the price it wanted or failed to get sufficient bids. (pi)