The privatization administration announced that six consortiums: EFG-CSFB-Vakif Yatirim, Merrill Lynch-TSKB, Lehman Brothers-Koc Yatirim-Ernst & Young-Yapi Kredi Yatirim, Goldman Sachs-CAIB-Is Yatirim, Citigroup-Oyak Yatirim and Rothschild-Finans Yatirim submitted their bids in the tender to select a financial advisor for the Halkbank privatization. In the letter of intent submitted to the IMF, the government pledged that a financial advisor for the bank would be hired in early January and it would announce a timetable and modalities regarding the privatization process by the end of June. The government had invited a total of 37 international and domestic companies to participate in the financial advisor tender and the deadline for submitting bids was March 28.
