S&P upgrades Dogus

Standard & Poor's said it raised its long-term counterparty credit rating on Turkey-based Dogus Holding AS to BB- from B and removed it from CreditWatch, where it had been placed with positive implications on Sept. 6. S&P also affirmed its B short-term counterparty credit rating on the group.

The outlook is stable.

The upgrade reflects the strong positive impact on Dogus' leverage and liquidity from the sale of a 78.1% stake in food retailer Tansas to Koç Holding AS in November and the sale of 25.5% in ordinary shares and 49.2% in founders' shares of its banking arm, Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS (BB-/stable), to General Electric Co. (AAA/stable/A-1+) in December.

Proceeds from the two deals - $229 million from Tansas via the group's corporate arm Dogus Corporate and $1.8 billion from Garanti combined with $305 million Dogus received from the sale of put options to an investment fund - have substantially reduced Dogus' leverage.

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