(Bloomberg) -- Aramex PJSC paused talks to acquire Turkish delivery company MNG Kargo after a change in the share ownership of the Dubai-based logistics firm, according to people familiar with the matter.

The discussions were paused after Geopost SA bought a 24.9% stake in Aramex in October, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. Geopost already has a partnership with Yurtici Kargo, a competitor to MNG in the Turkish market. The proposed deal to buy MNG, valued reportedly at as much as $500 million, may still be possible, one of the people said.

Aramex, which didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, said on Dec. 5 that it would discuss recent updates on the potential acquisition of MNG Kargo in its board meeting on Thursday. MNG Kargo declined to comment. 

Geopost is only a shareholder in Aramex and doesn’t comment on its projects, said a spokeswoman for the Geopost/DPDgroup, a unit of the French postal service La Poste.

Aramex, which is also partly owned by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ, disclosed early-stage talks with MNG Kargo in September. Since then, the lira went into a free-fall after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed to keep lowering interest rates until 2023 elections, disregarding market turmoil over widening negative real rates. 

Erdogan’s Plan Backfires With ‘Desperation’ in Turkish Lira (1)

The president’s pledge for a low-rate environment boosted the stock exchange in lira terms but listed firms’ dollar-denominated market capitalization still sank.

Established in 2003, MNG is one of the top cargo services operating in Turkey with over 850 branches and 11,000 employees. It’s been partly owned by private equity firm Turkven and the Sancak family since 2017. 

The UAE outlined plans to launch a $10 billion fund to support investments in Turkey as the countries signed a string of accords last month after years of political feuding. The UAE’s de facto ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited Ankara, where he said the investment fund would focus on strategic sectors such as energy, food and healthcare.

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