Page 84 - TURKRptJul19

have previously emerged that IGA is looking to sell a stake in Istanbul Airport. US investment bank Lazard has been instructed to find buyers for shares in the asset, Bloomberg reported in late May. Aeroports de Paris and Turkish airport operator TAV are among interested parties sources told the news agency, adding that Vinci SA had also expressed an interest. Five construction companies won the contract to build and operate Istanbul Airport under the IGA umbrella. One partner, Kolin Insaat, sold its 20% stake earlier this year.
“Faulty question”. Ibrahim Kahveci, who writes for the moderate Islamist newspaper Karar, in a column published on May 28 quoted Candan Karlitekin, a former chairman of Turkish Airlines, as saying: “In fact, analysing Istanbul Airport individually is like trying to find the answer to a faulty question. The new airport cannot be analysed properly without taking into account the new settlement along and around Kanal Istanbul [a planned $30bn shipping canal designed to bypass the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul], plans to build a new city for two to three million people in northwest Istanbul, the North Istanbul Highway, and the third bridge on the Bosphorus.” Explaining how Istanbul Airport is only one part of a huge plan to spread Turkey’s largest city northward, Karlitekin said it was a huge strategic mistake in political, economic, demographic, ecological and environmental terms.
● Others
The first-ever sea bus transportation between Turkey and Bulgaria was launched on June 18. A ferry carried passengers from the Bulgarian city of Burgas to the northwestern Turkish province of Kirklareli, Daily Sabah reported. Istanbul's Sea Bus Operators (IDO) hopes the service will boost tourism along Turkey's Black Sea coastline. IDO chairman Hasan Ustundag reportedly said the service would be expanded if predicted passenger numbers were reached.
9.2.3 Construction & Real estate corporate news
Baticim, a unit of Turkish conglomerate Bati Anadolu Group, is looking to sell a stake of up to 75% in cement manufacturer Batisoke , Reuters on June 13 reported a source close to the process as saying. Turkish financial services group Unlu&Co has been appointed to handle the sale, the source was also cited as saying. Bati Anadolu Group also has interests in energy production, port operations and other concrete production sectors. A document seen by the news agency that was sent to potential buyers said due diligence for binding and non-binding offers should be completed in July to September according to existing plans. It added tht Batisoke was projected to make earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of $14mn in its 2019-20 financial year. Q1 saw the company record a net loss of Turkish lira (TRY) 59.4mn and revenue of TRY115.9mn.
Turkey's cement industry is burdened by over-capacity as domestic demand slows amid the country’s economic travails, which have hit the debt-fuelled Turkish construction industry hard. Turkey'sCement Industry Association said capacity usage has fallen 10.6 percentage points in the last four years to 53.4%. Turkish conglomerate Sabanci Group in 2018 commissioned Unlu&Co to dispose of cement producers Kayseri Cimento, Nigde Cimento and Ladik Ciment..
9.2.4 Retail corporate news
● BIM
84 TURKEY Country Report July 2019 www.intellinews.com