Boyner welcomes OK on acquisition

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Chairman Cem Boyner says he will keep the YKM brand and increase the number of stores by new investments.

Turkey’s Competition Board has approved the sale of YKM, a Turkish department store chain, to Boyner Holding. Boyner Holding acquired a 63 percent stake in YKM for approximately 190 million Turkish Liras in February this year.

“This merger marks the beginning of a new era in [Turkey’s non-food] retail sector as it is not an ordinary sale/purchase transaction. We will start talking about new dimensions in the sector as the two rooted brands join forces,” said Boyner Büyük Mağazacılık Chief Executive Aslı Karadeniz.

The number of stores the company operates will rise to 139 from 72, and consolidated net sales and the net sales area will increase 70 percent thanks to this agreement, she added.

“Our innovative and receptive approach [in retail business] will gain strength with the stores and customers of a rooted Turkish brand and consumers will benefit the most from this synergy,” said Boyner Holding Chairman Cem Boyner.

Both brands, Boyner and YKM, will be preserved, and the number of provinces where Boyner has stores will rise to 39. The net turnover of Boyner was 660 million liras in 2011, while YKM stores recorded more than 1 billion liras in consolidated turnover in the same year.

However, Saruhan Tan, a member of the Tan family, which has a share in YKM, said yesterday in a written statement that the family will lodge an appeal with the administrative court, as the board has approved a monopoly, which will create adverse results for consumers and suppliers.

The Tan family owns 50 percent of the YKM brand, and lawsuits are still continuing as the family’s pre-emptive right, stated in the principal agreement of YKM, was violated by the agreement between Boyner and YKM, he said.