Chinese telecom giant ZTE has made a board announcement on Thursday concerning the progress of an acquisition made last year.

The acquisition deal was signed last December between ZTE Cooperatief U.A. – a ZTE Dutch subsidiary – and One Equity Partners (OEP) private equity. In this deal, ZTE plans to invest over $100 million to acquire a 48.04% stake of Turkish telecom company Netaş Telekomünkasyon from OEP.

According to the released ZTE announcement, the pre-conditions of the transaction are to be achieved three months within signing the deal. However, these pre-conditions are not fully achieved by now (May 11^th), and ZTE has yet to make the settlement.

Upon the completion of the acquisition, ZTE will become the dominant stockholder of Netaş. The proposal has reportedly been approved by the board of directors of ZTE last year, but it was not until May 8, 2017 did Competition Board of Turkey Authority approve the transaction.

Founded 1967, Netaş is a Borsa Istanbul-listed Turkish company operating in the field of IT technologies and telecommunications equipment's research and development. The company has played an important role in the modernization of the communication network of Turkish Armed Forces. In 2011, Netaş became the biggest system integrator in Turkey by merging another Turkish Company, Probil.

“Netaş has been a major architect of Turkey’s digital future and we will now work with ZTE to further address the global marketplace,” Müjdat Altay, CEO of Netaş, said. “We believe this transaction highlights Turkey’s attractiveness as an environment for foreign investors.”

The investment in Netaş will strengthen ZTE and related Chinese telecom company's ability to capture opportunities generated by the Chinese government’s Belt and Road initiative and Turkish government’s plans for a strong ICT economy. Netaş will remain an independent company and continue to grow as a Turkish ICT flagship company driving innovations with international reach.

By the end of December 2010, the total number of mobile subscribers is 61.8 million with 85.1% penetration ratio in Turkey. According to an analysis report, the mobile subscribers will grow at a CAGR of around 8% during 2011-2016 and the penetration rate will exceed 108% by 2016-end. In such a fast-growing market, the agreement between ZTE and Netaş and the industry cooperation between the two nations will no doubt bring more chances to each country's medium/small companies.

As a telecom accessories manufacturer and an important business partner of ZTE, Sanyuan group (China) has also benefitted from the good relationship and closer cooperation between the two countries in recent years. On June 17, 2015, Sanyuan Group signed a supply contract worthy of $100,000 with a Turkey trading company, marking the first successful business cooperation of the Group in west Eurasia.