Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri, the biggest Turkish mobile-phone company, may make a bid for Vivacom, valuing the Bulgarian company at about USD 1.4 B, Bloomberg agency reported.

The Turkcell board is expected to meet as soon as this week to discuss bidding, the agncy said, citing a source, who declined to be identified because the process is private.

While Turkcell's management is eying Vivacom, Bulgaria's incumbent telecommunications operator, a deal would need the approval of its board, which has blocked proposed deals before.

Three binding bids have already been submitted for the company, the Bulgarian newspaper Capital reported, without specifying the amount. The other bidders include Icelandic billionaire Thor Bjorgolfsson, who controlled Vivacom between 2005 and 2007 and has bid with Panos Germanos, who founded the Greek phone-services retailer Germanos SA.

Another candidate is Tsvetan Vassilev, chairman of Sofia- based Corporate Commercial Bank AD. The third bidder to meet the Feb. 27 offer deadline is Pamplona Capital Management LLP, a London-based private equity firm, according to the newspaper.

Vivacom is a so-called quadruple play phone operator, offering fixed-line, broadband, television and mobile services in one bill. Such companies are valued at about five or six times their earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, Bloomberg agency reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Morgan Stanley is advising Vivacom's creditors to help sell the company, the people familiar said.

A spokesman for the bank has declined to comment.

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