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16 I Companies & Markets bne July 2017
exciting development. We usually engage with companies that are eager to learn more, but this was different.”
Indeed, this reluctance to enter the practical realm is some- thing that sceptics of blockchain often point to, that it is
still too early days to say whether the technology will be as revolutionary as its supporters claim and there will undoubt- edly be growing pains before we see its use in everyday life.
However, Tillemann-Dick says the event gave an inkling into how unexpectedly and widely companies see its potential use. “In agriculture and supply chain, we see
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Mavi Jeans’ IPO overcomes the Turkish blues
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Mavi Giyim, the Turkish jeans brand worn by celebrities such as actress Jessica Alba, model Adriana Lima, and singers Lady Gaga and Fergie, floated on June 12 in the largest IPO on the Istanbul bourse since 2013.
The fashion brand sold a 55% stake, raising around TRY1.2bn (€305mn) and valuing Mavi at around TRY2.14bn (€544mn), or TRY43 per share, at the bottom end of the range of TRY43- TRY51 targeted by advisers Goldman Sachs. Shares in Mavi fell 2% between June 15, when the IPO was launched, and June 21, to TRY43.62 (€11.05).
The main owners – the Akarlilar family, together with the Turkven Private Equity Fund II – sold a combined 23.75mn shares for around TRY1.02bn, while the remaining 3.56mn shares were new.
The owners of Mavi (Turkish for blue) decided to go ahead with the public offering at a time when questions still linger over Turkey’s economic and political outlook. Indeed, the Mavi IPO in a way also represented a test of investors’ confidence
in the country’s $857bn economy, which has suffered from
a coup attempt last summer and a contraction in the third quarter of 2016 but has lately been showing signs of a mild recovery.
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so many applications for the technology. The compa- nies we met in Omaha were really innovative in their view of how blockchain might be applied,” she says.
Also, for those who raise their eyebrows at seeing such
a revolutionary technology being touted in the Midwest, Tillemann-Dick believes there’s no reason this part of America can’t be the jumping-off point for blockchain. “There’s no reason this technology has to be based in Silicon Valley or Shanghai. We’re seeing unconventional places like Omaha embrace blockchain – and these pioneers
will likely have a competitive edge moving forward.”
Photo © Mavi
The political outlook in particular remains worrying. Turkey has been deeply involved in a potentially explosive conflict between Qatar and several Gulf nations amid the blockade being led by Saudi Arabia. The Syrian conflict still remains a destabilising factor for Turkey, posing some serious security threats.
Turkey is also seeking to improve its fraught relations with the EU, while Ankara has made good progress in restoring ties with Russia. Mavi last year generated TRY100mn and another TRY20mn in revenues from Europe and Russia operations, respectively.
On the upside, domestic political tensions have diminished considerably after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed victory in the April 16 referendum, which introduced an executive presidential system.
Foreign institutional investors took up 73.9% of the shares in the Mavi IPO, including Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, US investment group Templeton, the UK’s Universities Superannuation Scheme, UK asset management companies Carrhae Capital and Charlemagne Capital, US-based investment manager Neuberger Berman, and the UAE’s Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia), while 18.9% were sold