London court delays deadline in Turkcell tussle - filing

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A London court has pushed back the deadline to resolve a decade-long legal battle between two top shareholders of Turkish mobile operator Turkcell (TCELL.IS), according to a regulatory filing on Friday, a decision likely to frustrate other investors.

The London Court of International Arbitration in July dismissed claims against Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman from Turkcell founder Mehmet Emin Karamehmet. The two have been locked in a legal dispute that has prevented dividends from being paid and hampered the company's development.

In that ruling, it decided that Karamehmet's company had 60 days to decide whether to buy Fridman's stake in Turkcell for $2.7 billion (2.08 billion pounds) or sell its stake to Fridman for $2.8 billion (2.16 billion pounds).

On Friday, the court pushed back the start of the 60-day deadline, saying it would now begin on Sept.19, rather than July 29, according to a regulatory filing by Fridman's company

It did not give a reason for pushing back the deadline.

The change represented a "priceless breather" for Karamehmet's company, said Toygun Onaran, an analyst at TEB Investment, in a note to clients.

Shares of Turkcell are down nearly 10 percent over the last 12 months, underperforming a near 7 percent rise in the benchmark BIST 100 index over the same period.

"We expect the news to have a negative impact on the stock as the uncertainty will continue for another two months and the shareholder dispute will continue," he said.

(Reporting by Can Sezer; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)