US giant Verifone acquires stake in Turkish company

Dinçer Gökçe - ISTANBUL

U.S.-based Verifone has acquired a stake in Turkish technology company Panorama, a majority stake of which is owned by the son of the Forestry and Water Affair Minister Veysel Eroğlu, according to sources close to the matter.

Panorama, which was launched by Mehmed Eroğlu along with two friends in September 2013, sells new-generation cash registers in Turkey. Two other businesspeople bought stakes in the company at a later date.

The company owns the distribution rights to the Olivetti cash registers in Turkey, where 2 million cash registers are slated to be changed with the approval of the Finance Ministry. The sector’s volume is estimated at around $4.5 billion Turkish Liras ($1.6 billion).

The parties recently applied to the Competition Board for the approval of the stake transfers although it is not yet clear how many stakes will be acquired by Verifone, sources said, but added that the details of the sale would soon be revealed.

Panorama, 44 percent of which is owned by Eroğlu, did not make any comment on the matter.

Verifone has operations in 40 countries with around 5,300 employees.

According to data from the Panorama website, the company delivers products through BSH, which has over 3,000 main sale points. Panorama and Olivetti have been partners since last May.