Koç Holding exits stock farming sector with two major sales in three days

ISTANBUL

Koç Holding and its subsidiary Tat Gıda have announced that they will sell out stakes in a local livestock company to a U.S. firm, marking Koç’s exit from the agriculture sector only three days after revealing the acquisition of its meat company Maret by sector rival Namet.

Tat Gıda and Koç announced that they had signed a deal to sell their 90 percent share in stock farming and agricultural products company Harranova to U.S. agriculture and tomato paste giant Morningstar, which already owned a 10 percent stake in the farm.

According to an announcement made to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) late on June 23, Tat Gıda will transfer all of its 58.15 percent of shares in the company, while Koç Holding’s 16.47 percent shares and Koç Group’s 15.38 percent shares will be acquired by Morningstar for a base price of 6.28 million Turkish Liras.

Koç Holding last year announced its decision to exit the Harranova farm that it established in 2000 in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa.

 “The profitability of Harranova Stock Farming and Agriculture Products’s current operations don’t meet expectations,” the firm had stated at the time.

The company announced that it had suspended tomato and tomato paste production at the 12,000-hectar farm after selling its cattle fattening units to Turkish red meat company Namet Gıda in 2013.

On June 20, Tat Gıda announced that the well-established red meat brand Maret and its assets had been acquired by Namet for $75 million (plus value added tax).