Turkey’s Kron in Talks for Qatar World Cup Stadium Deals

Turkish software maker Kron is in talks with Qatari companies to provide Wi-Fi services in stadiums for soccer’s 2022 World Cup, the company’s chairman said.

Kron, which provided the software for Turkish sports club Besiktas’s Vodafone Arena in Istanbul, may yield as much as $1 million for each stadium, Lutfi Yenel said in a July 25 interview in Istanbul. Meanwhile, unit Krontech Inc., established this month in New York, is in talks with three U.S. companies as it seeks to become a “disruptive ” force in the country, he said.

Kron Telekomunikasyon Hizmetleri AS offers four flagship products for large networks, including software for access management, real-time network analysis and Wi-Fi services. Turkey’s three top mobile operators are among its clients. The company is targeting expansion in the U.S. after Turkey’s relations with neighbors including Russia, Syria and Egypt soured in recent years, curtailing Kron’s growth plans.

The company’s product for real-time network analysis, which allows operators to analyze big data, “could be a disruptive tool in the U.S. market,” Yenel said.

Istanbul-based Kron reported 14.6 million liras ($4.8 million) sales and 6.22 million profit in 2015 and targets a 20 percent increase in sales this year. Its shares quadrupled in 2015, making it the top performer on the Borsa Istanbul. Sales in the U.S. are expected to be double those of Turkey by 2020, Yenel said.

Yenel, 66, owns about 26 percent of Kron, while 10 percent is owned by Netas Telekomunikasyon AS. The company is “open for venture capital offers,” the chairman said.

The company is also preparing to offer at least two of its products through cloud computing, and may agree to do so with Amazon.com Inc. this year, according to Yenel.

Kron shares rose 7.4 percent to 3.20 liras, the highest since May 10, at 3:40 p.m. in Istanbul, trimming this year’s loss to 25 percent.

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