JOHANNESBURG, June 1 (Reuters) - Turkcell's
TCELL.IS
$4.2 billion lawsuit against South Africa's MTN Group
MTNJ.J
could go to court towards the end of next year, a lawyer for the Turkish mobile phone operator said on Thursday.
"Once the defendants have filed their formal plea documents, Turkcell will be in a position to apply for a trial date, which I suppose will be towards the end of next year," said Eric van den Berg, of Fasken Martineau in Johannesburg.
Turkcell first sued MTN in a U.S. court in 2012, alleging the company used bribery and wrongful influence to win a lucrative Iranian licence that was originally awarded to Turkcell.
(Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by David Goodman) ((tiisetso.motsoeneng@thomsonreuters.com; +27 11 775 3122; Reuters Messaging: tiisetso.motsoeneng.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
"Once the defendants have filed their formal plea documents, Turkcell will be in a position to apply for a trial date, which I suppose will be towards the end of next year," said Eric van den Berg, of Fasken Martineau in Johannesburg.
Turkcell first sued MTN in a U.S. court in 2012, alleging the company used bribery and wrongful influence to win a lucrative Iranian licence that was originally awarded to Turkcell.
(Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by David Goodman) ((tiisetso.motsoeneng@thomsonreuters.com; +27 11 775 3122; Reuters Messaging: tiisetso.motsoeneng.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
