www.nasdaq.com - LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Turkish retailer A101 Yeni Magazacilik AS is set to clinch a sale to private equity highlighting a continued interest in the country's retail sector, people familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.
Capital Group is frontrunner for the business which has attracted several other buyout firms including TPG, Investcorp and Permira, one person said. (source)
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) is running the auction of the business which has been valued at between 800 million Turkish lira (EUR312.5 million) and 1 billion Turkish lira (EUR390.6 million).
A101, founded in 2008, has 1,075 stores and is targeting 2,000 by 2015, according to its website.
The Aydin family has a majority stake in the business while Turkish Islamic lender Bank Asya has a 21.84% holding.
Interest in Turkish assets has grown significantly over the last few years as international buyers seek to tap into a growth market driven by an increasingly wealthy consumer and a relatively stable economic and political region.
Just two weeks ago local retail group Boyner Holding agreed to buy a 63% stake in department store YKM for $108 million in Turkey's largest ever deal in non- food retail. The auction drew several buyout firms including Carlyle Group, Turkven and Colony Capital.
And several buyout firms are currently interested in buying a stake in Turkish hosiery company Penti in a deal that could value the whole company at $ 400 million.
Source: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/turkish-retailer-a101-set-to-clinch-sale-to-private-equity---sources-20120307-01025 - March 9, 2012
