EBRD’s first corporate equity investment in Turkey
2012-07-03 17:40:53
The EBRD is supporting the growth of the Turkish enterprise sector with a US$ 25 million equity investment in Tiryaki Agro G?da Sanayii ve Ticaret A.?. – the Bank’s first equity investment in Turkey’s corporate sector.
As the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development reported, with sales of US$ 1 billion in 2011, Tiryaki is a major Turkish agricultural commodities processor active in trading in Black Sea countries, Turkey and the south-eastern Mediterranean region. It is majority owned by the Tiryakioglu family, based in Gaziantep. Investcorp, a leading private equity firm, holds a minority stake in Tiryaki.
The EBRD’s investment, extended by subscription to newly issued shares, will support Tiryaki’s growth strategy and enable the company to build modern storage, processing and handling facilities, including first privately-owned licensed warehouses.
“The EBRD is pleased to partner with Tiryaki to support its further development. This investment will help Tiryaki improve its infrastructure and will enable the company to boost its efficiency in handling large trading volumes. The project is in line with the EBRD’s objective to support the role of private sector in boosting agricultural production and trade,” said Alain Pilloux, EBRD Managing Director for Industry, Commerce and Agribusiness.
Süleyman Tiryakio?lu, CEO & board member added “EBRD is a key partner for our future growth, not just in Turkey but also in the main grain exporting and importing countries in the EBRD region such as Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Egypt”. Tristan de Boysson, Managing Director at Investcorp and board member in Tiryaki, further added, “We are delighted to have EBRD as a shareholder in Tiryaki alongside Investcorp. We look forward to creating new growth opportunities with EBRD”.
Since the beginning of its operations in Turkey in 2009, the EBRD has invested around €2 billion in various sectors of the country’s economy, of which 95 per cent in the country’s private sector.
In the agribusiness sector alone the EBRD has directly committed over €6.4 billion in over 420 projects across Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States since 1991.