A Move Towards Foreign Investment by Merinos
Merinos Carpet, a world leader in machine-made carpet production with a 7% share, is heading to the stock market. This move holds special significance for the capital markets, the Turkish carpet industry (which produces 65% of the world's machine-made carpet market), and Gaziantep, considered the capital of carpet production. Chairman of Erdemoğlu Holding, İbrahim Erdemoğlu explained why Merinos's initial public offering has attracted so much attention at a press conference held last week at the company's production facilities in Gaziantep.
A FIRST AFTER APPROXIMATELY 10 YEARS
Merinos' Gaziantep factory, where 1.6 million different types of carpets are produced, has an annual yarn production capacity of 150,000 tons. 80 million square meters of carpet are produced on these lines annually and distributed to more than 100 countries. This is equivalent to a carpet ring that would circle the globe twice. Stating that they will soon be coming to the Istanbul Stock Exchange, İbrahim Erdemoğlu said they are making the final preparations. Erdemoğlu said, "Roadshows have been held abroad. More than 50% of the shares to be offered to the public will be allocated to foreign institutional investors. This will be a first in the history of the Turkish stock exchange since 2017."
The last time a stock exchange was established was in 2017 with the initial public offering of Mavi Giyim (Mavi Jeans), where 73.9% of the shares were sold to international corporate investors. Stating that they are preparing to undertake the largest initial public offering of recent times, İbrahim Erdemoğlu said:
"We are talking about an international initial public offering on a scale not seen since 2017. More importantly, we believe it will be a success for Türkiye's capital markets. In our view, considering the size, institutional structure, and the foreign capital it will bring to Türkiye, this initial public offering is not just about Merinos's initial public offering."
SUPPLIER TO GIANT CHAINS
Merinos, which exports to more than 100 countries, is a supplier to the world's largest retail chains such as Walmart and IKEA. 90% of the carpets produced at its integrated facility in Gaziantep are exported. 10% is sold to the domestic market. 92% of the turnover comes from exports. According to İbrahim Erdemoğlu, the US and European markets take the largest share of exports. 40% of total exports go to America, 40% to Europe, and 10% to the Middle East and Asia. The company sources all of its raw materials itself for production. The fully integrated facility, employing 4,200 people, has a 600,000 square meter indoor area.
'IT FINANCED THE SASA ACQUISITION'
İbrahim Erdemoğlu, while explaining Merinos' cash generation power, remarked: "The most concrete example of this power is that the acquisition of SASA was financed with the cash flow generated by Merinos. This is one of the important indicators of the sustainable financial capacity that the group has created over many years. Today everyone is looking at SASA, but the main origin is Merinos. We started the business with carpets, today we have transformed into an integrated industrial group extending from production to raw materials, from chemicals to global operations."
TO START PRODUCING POLYESTER YARN FROM OCTOBER
Stating that Merinos is not just a carpet manufacturing company, Erdemoğlu said, "It produces the yarn needed to produce the carpets itself. It produces the dye needed to dye the yarn itself. It carries out the dyeing process itself. Furthermore, it will start producing the polyester chips needed to produce that yarn itself from October 1st. We have invested approximately 270 million dollars in polyester chips here."
Source: Hürriyet
A FIRST AFTER APPROXIMATELY 10 YEARS
Merinos' Gaziantep factory, where 1.6 million different types of carpets are produced, has an annual yarn production capacity of 150,000 tons. 80 million square meters of carpet are produced on these lines annually and distributed to more than 100 countries. This is equivalent to a carpet ring that would circle the globe twice. Stating that they will soon be coming to the Istanbul Stock Exchange, İbrahim Erdemoğlu said they are making the final preparations. Erdemoğlu said, "Roadshows have been held abroad. More than 50% of the shares to be offered to the public will be allocated to foreign institutional investors. This will be a first in the history of the Turkish stock exchange since 2017."
The last time a stock exchange was established was in 2017 with the initial public offering of Mavi Giyim (Mavi Jeans), where 73.9% of the shares were sold to international corporate investors. Stating that they are preparing to undertake the largest initial public offering of recent times, İbrahim Erdemoğlu said:
"We are talking about an international initial public offering on a scale not seen since 2017. More importantly, we believe it will be a success for Türkiye's capital markets. In our view, considering the size, institutional structure, and the foreign capital it will bring to Türkiye, this initial public offering is not just about Merinos's initial public offering."
SUPPLIER TO GIANT CHAINS
Merinos, which exports to more than 100 countries, is a supplier to the world's largest retail chains such as Walmart and IKEA. 90% of the carpets produced at its integrated facility in Gaziantep are exported. 10% is sold to the domestic market. 92% of the turnover comes from exports. According to İbrahim Erdemoğlu, the US and European markets take the largest share of exports. 40% of total exports go to America, 40% to Europe, and 10% to the Middle East and Asia. The company sources all of its raw materials itself for production. The fully integrated facility, employing 4,200 people, has a 600,000 square meter indoor area.
'IT FINANCED THE SASA ACQUISITION'
İbrahim Erdemoğlu, while explaining Merinos' cash generation power, remarked: "The most concrete example of this power is that the acquisition of SASA was financed with the cash flow generated by Merinos. This is one of the important indicators of the sustainable financial capacity that the group has created over many years. Today everyone is looking at SASA, but the main origin is Merinos. We started the business with carpets, today we have transformed into an integrated industrial group extending from production to raw materials, from chemicals to global operations."
TO START PRODUCING POLYESTER YARN FROM OCTOBER
Stating that Merinos is not just a carpet manufacturing company, Erdemoğlu said, "It produces the yarn needed to produce the carpets itself. It produces the dye needed to dye the yarn itself. It carries out the dyeing process itself. Furthermore, it will start producing the polyester chips needed to produce that yarn itself from October 1st. We have invested approximately 270 million dollars in polyester chips here."
Source: Hürriyet