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9.2.5 Retail corporate news
● BIM
In 2014, Turkey’s largest retailer BIM (BIMAS) pledged to distribute a minimum 30% of its distributable profits in upcoming years.
BIM’s average cash dividend yield for the 9-year period between 2010 and 2017 stood at 1.61%, according to Seker Invest’s calculations.
BIM has an 11.5% stake in local footwear retailer Flo, which operates with a paid-in capital of TRY34.5mn.
Morocco unit BIM Stores SARL operates with a paid-in capital of MAD1.16bn (€108mn) and Egypt unit BIM Stores LLC with EGP875mn (€49mn).
BIM, which went operational with 21 stores in 1995, can not sell alcohol and pork products, according to Article 4.4 of its Articles of Association.
Mustafa Latif Topbas, CEO and co-founder of BIM, who doesn't give interviews, has a longstanding friendship with Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his family, according to Forbes.
Topbas’ daughter Fatma is married to Ali Ulker, nephew of food billionaire Murat Ulker, who hit the media headlines with a huge debt restructuring across 2018.
The Ulker and Topbas families also have business ties through their companies.
In June 2014, BIM and Yildiz Holding’s venture capital unit Gozde Girisim, owned by the Ulker family, purchased 11.5% stakes in each of Ziylan Group’s three companies, namely Ziylan Magazacilik, Polaris Pazarlama and Ugur Ic ve Dis Ticaret.
Ziylan Group is one of Turkey’s largest footwear makers. The company has the Flo, Polaris and Kinetix brands in its portfolio. It annually sells 20mn pairs of footwear through a network of more than 200 stores.
It was a surprise when the pro-Erdogan Ahaber title, directed by Serhat Albayrak, brother of Erdogan’s finance minister and son-in-law Berat Albayrak, harshly criticised BIM in March, prior to the March 31 local polls, for reporting a record profit in 2018.
99 TURKEY Country Report December 2019 www.intellinews.com
