June 13, 2016 [Bloomberg] - Yilport Holding AS, a Turkish port operator, is acquiring chemicals and petrochemicals storage and port company Solventas , two people familiar with the plan said.
Yilport, owned by Turkish investor Robert Yuksel Yildirim’s Yildirim Holding AS, will pay more than $200 million for the Istanbul-based company, formally known as Solventas Teknik Depolama AS, the people said, asking not to be named because the process is confidential. Solventas is owned by Turkey’s Baruh family.
Yilport, which bought Tertir-Terminais de Portugal for $308 million in September to expand its global network to 18 ports, will borrow from a local bank to finance part of the acquisition, one of the people said.
The company, also based in Istanbul, is seeking to benefit from a slump in asset prices as the plunge in commodities hurts valuations, Robert Yildirim, chairman and chief executive officer, said in an interview on April 19. The company plans to spend about $5 billion on acquisitions and invest a further $5 billion in power plants in Turkey by 2025, he said.
Yilport declined to comment. Jak Baruh, a board member at Solventas, declined to comment.
