Turkish Setur in talks to acquire two marinas in Greece

Hülya Güler - LESBOS

DHA photo

Turkey’s Setur firm is in talks to acquire the operational rights to two marinas in Greece, according to company representatives. 

“We are now in negotiation process to buy the operational rights of two marinas in Greece. We actually have eyes on almost all the marinas in the Mediterranean,” said Setur CEO Üstün Özbey. 

Koç Holding’s Setur has been one of the largest marina chains in Europe with a total of 11 marinas, 10 in Turkey and one in Greece, with a total capacity for 6,058 yachts. 

Meanwhile, the Turkish privatization board announced a new development plan for the Kalamış Yacht Marina on the Asian side of Istanbul on March 20, just after the winner of the original tender, Setur, had said it would not sign the deal as the promised development plan had not be published. 

The company said it would not sign the transfer of operation rights contract due to problems in the development plan, although the company won the tender for $664 million last year.

The second highest bidder’s proposal has been assessed now following questions about the Kalamış Marina, Özbey said.

“If the second bidder does not [agree], the authority will go to the third highest bidder. If both of them opt out, a new tender may be held. If the conditions are good for us, we could bid in the tender,” Özbey said, adding that the company was continuing to provide services at the Kalamış Marina. 

Turkey has a marina capacity of around 20,000 boats at the moment but plans to increase this to 30,000 by 2023.