Fund acquires 38.5 pct of Doors Group

Hürriyet Daily News with wires

International Restaurant Group, owned by funds managed by Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking, has bought 38.5 percent of the shares in Doors Holding. The sale was announced by Finansinvest.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Finansinvest Managing Director Zafer Onat said the sale was important, as it occurred amid global financial turmoil. “We have destroyed the image that Turkish brands cannot be created and sold,” Onat said.

Finansinvest has been working with Doors Holding for the last nine months to succeed in the sale, said Özlem Özyiğit, Finansinvest’s vice managing director. The sale aims to strengthen Doors, which manages widely-acclaimed restaurants such as Da Mario and Vogue, Özyiğit said.

The sale involves 38.5 percent of shares of the brand, created through seven restaurants and one hotel, said Berk Ekşioğlu, board member of the Istanbul Doors Group.

Doors Group owns brands such as Da Mario, Vogue, Anjelique, Wan-na, Kitchenette, A'jia Hotel and Zuma. Meanwhile, BASF ended talks to sell its stake in the Turkish paint producer, Meges Boya Sanayi & Ticaret, according to a Bloomberg report.