Şahenk, Ülker lead acquisition in 2013

ISTANBUL

Doğuş Group Chairman Ferit Şahenk acquired 12 assets. Hürriyet photo

Two Turkish billionaires, Ferit Şahenk and Murat Ülker, have left their mark on 2013 through acquisitions they undertook throughout the year.

Doğuş Group Chairman Şahenk, who was named the richest person in Turkey by Forbes, bought out or became partners in 12 assets, the majority of which were in the marine and entertainment sector, while Yıldız Holding Chairman Ülker expanded his group’s strong presence in the food and retail sectors through 10 acquisitions.

In the most prominent acquisition, Doğuş Holding placed the highest offer for the privatization of the Istanbul Salıpazarı Port Area in May, commonly known as Galataport, with a $702 million bid, winning the right to operate the port area for 30 years.

The group, which already owns some of Turkey’s leading companies like Turkish lender Garanti bank and a number of media outlets, including Star TV and NTV, also entered the entertainment and food business. The Doğuş Group’s marina company, D-Marin, also bought 51 percent of Greece’s largest marina chain, MedMarinas S.A., and 6.92 percent of shares in the Adriatic Croatia International (ACI) Group, the largest marina chain in the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, Yıldız’ most flamboyant investment was the recent acquisition of U.S. candy and cracker company DeMet’s Candy Co. for $221 million. The group’s discount market subsidiary Şok Marketler also added two more retailers to the group by acquiring DiaSa from Spanish supermarket group Dia and Turkey’s Sabancı Holding and Onur Express.