Sabanci Holding was unable to deter Cimentas, a subsidiary to the Italian Cementir Group, from taking over control of one of the cement factories that the Turkish Savings and Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) had been financing. However, in its second attempt, Sabanci Holding managed to get revenge for their earlier failure.
In the tender for Standart Cement, Eskisehir, one of the nine cement factories sequestrated in exchange for debts of the Uzan Group, Cimsa made the highest offer of $175.5m. The tender caused a great deal of competitive bargaining, leading the value to increase 2.8 times higher than the initial value of $62 million.
Although the TMSF had set an estimated value of $433m for all the factories, it has already managed to earn $342m from the sale of two factories. The highest price of the Italian Cementir Group, which managed to win the Lalapasa tender last week, was $166.25m. Bartin Cement will be sold by tender today (Wednesday), its the lowest estimated initial value is $22m.
Twenty-two companies attended the Standart Cement tender in Istanbul. Sabanci Group was then put on a shortlist of five companies to attend the auctioned, which includes Akcansa, of which Sabanci Holding shares its ownership with the German HeidelbergCement, and Cimsa, a subsidiary of Sabanci Holding. Sabanci Holding also competed Modern Cement, which belongs to Ahmet Eren.
It is quite difficult to consider the offer of Cimsa to be normal, said the head of Sabanci Holding’s Cement Group Erhan Kamisli, admitting the fact that it was a exceptional amount to offer, and which eventually forced them [Sabanci Holding] to do business the way anyone else possibly would. Cimsa Cement General Manager Yilmaz Kulcu defended his claim that the factory is worth the amount that they offered. It is the supply and demand that determines the price, claimed Kulcu, suggesting the current supply and demand figures are evidence that the price paid is justified. Cimsa Cement will make the payment in cash, said Kulcu, promising a factory that will operate more efficiently in the future.
