Turkey’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) handed over four of nine cement factories auctioned off last month to their new owners in a ceremony at the agency’s headquarters in Istanbul on 30 December 2005. The handover followed Turkey’s Competition Board last week approving six out of nine cement factory tenders conducted by TMSF in separate auctions in November.
TMSF Chairman Ahmet Ertürk accepted checks from the new owners and congratulated them on their purchases, wishing them the best of luck and hoped they would continue to contribute to the development of the Turkish economy.
The factories turned over yesterday included the Lalapaşa, Bartın, Trabzon and Standart plants. Çimentaş İzmir Çimento Fabrikası A.Ş. paid $166.m for the Lalapaşa plant; Çimsa Çimento Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. paid $175.m for the Standart plant, Çimko Çimento ve Beton Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. paid $4m for the Bartın plant and Aşkale Çimento Sanayi paid $81.2m for the Trabzon cement factory.
The competition authority said that it was refusing approval on the Gaziantep cement plant tender and further considering the auctions of two other plants in Van and Ladik. Sanko offered the high bid for the Gaziantep factory, $128m, but the board said that it was ordering a new tender for the property.
