Rixos Hotels chain wins Istanbul's Golden Horn port tender

ANKARA

DAILY NEWS photo / Emrah Gürel

The Sembol-Ekopark İnşaat-Fine Otelcilik joint venture – all companies Rixos Hotels chain has shares in – submitted the highest offer $1.35 billion, plus taxes, in the action for the privatization of the shipyards in Istanbul’s Golden Horn (Haliç), following the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, today.

The first offer of the Sembol-Ekopark İnşaat-Fine Otelcilik joint venture was $1.14 billion as the other competitor, Cengiz-Taca-Galeri İnşaat joint venture, submitted an $862.6 million offer. At the end of 20 rounds of the auction, the Sembol-Ekopark İnşaat-Fine Otelcilik joint venture raised its offer to $1.35 billion as the other consortium presented $1.33 billion. The Cengiz-Taca-Galeri İnşaat joint venture withdrew from the tender in the 21st round and the Sembol-Ekopark İnşaat-Fine Otelcilik joint venture became the winner of the tender. If the Ministry of Transport, Maritime and Communication approves the offer, the tender will be finalized.

Fettah Tamince, the owner of the Rixos Hotels chain, said after the tender that they planned to make an additional investment worth around 1 billion Turkish Liras (nearly $521 million). They aim to attract an additional 1 million tourists a year with the Golden Horn port project. He said it was not certain that Rixos Hotels would take part in the project.

20-25 pct equity capital

Tamince said they had already done work on financing. They have between 20 and 25 percent equity capital, he said, adding that it could change depending on economic conditions.

The project for the privatization of the Camialtı and Taşkızak shipyards on the Golden Horn includes two yacht ports, two five-star hotels – each with 400 rooms – a big mosque with capacity for 1,000 people and shopping malls and parks in the area of around 230,000 square meters. The winning consortium will build the tourism complex in four years and hold the operation rights for 49 years, following a BOT model.Tamince said they expected to complete the project on time.

In the Golden Horn port tender, Tamince competed against a joint venture that includes Cengiz, one of the firms that is part of the consortium that won the right to build Istanbul’s third airport, and Taca, the contractor of some Rixos Hotels.

The Golden Horn is near Karaköy where the Galataport privatization was recently held. Doğuş Holding made the highest offer for the privatization of the Istanbul Salıpazarı Port Area, commonly known as Galataport, with a $702 million bid, winning the right to operate the port area for 30 years.