Boyner gets its company shares back

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet

The agreement is to be finallized in April, Cem Boyner says. Hürriyet photo

One of Turkey’s largest holding companies, Beymen, has paid $334 million to re-purchase the stakes that it had earlier sold to Citigroup for $189 million.

“As we trust in our companies and our country’s future, instead of investing elsewhere, we decided to invest in our company,” said Cem Boyner, board chairman of Boyner Holding, after the announcement of the preliminary agreement.

Citigroup Venture Capital International (CVCI) had purchased 30 percent of Boyner and 50 percent of Beymen department stores in 2007. As Boyner is now getting its stakes back it will become 100 percent owner of Beymen and 60 percent shareholder of Boyner Büyük Holding.

Citi’s funding support backed Boyner during the crisis and made the company stronger, Boyner said. “Citi has already told us they will leave the group within an interval four to six years, and two years ago we told them that we’d like to buy shares,” he said, adding that Citi made the first offer only to Boyner.The transaction will not violate market competition rules as it is an in-group operation, Boyner said.