US 40 million to support leading Turkish food and beverage producer

The bond, listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange and rated B2 by Moody’s and B by Fitch, will refinance an existing bond by Yaşar Holding. Michael Davey, EBRD Director for Turkey, said: “The successful placement of Yaşar Holding’s Eurobond will help the company to further diversify its funding base and will encourage other corporates in Turkey to pursue similar ways of financing. Yaşar is an excellent example of a strong Turkish agribusiness company and that has been reflected in the very positive response from the market to this issuance.”

Yaşar Holding is one of Turkey’s leading agribusiness groups, specialising in dairy products, processed meat and natural spring water as well as coatings, compound feed and fertilisers. The company has more than 1,000 food, beverage and other products and owns “Pinar”, one of Turkey’s most popular milk brands. The holding comprises 20 companies, four of which rank among Turkey's largest 500 firms. It operates over 20 factories, more than 1,500 distributors, and 200,000 sales points.

Through its dairy subsidiary Pinar Sut the group is currently working to open a new dairy plant in Şanlıurfa, in southeast Turkey, a region in serious need of an economic boost. Yaşar’s expansion will benefit small local milk producers, providing them with access to formal markets, training, veterinary services for cattle, and support in the form of animal feed.

Supporting economic activity – agribusiness in particular – in less-developed regions of Turkey is one of the EBRD’s priorities. The Bank started  investing in Turkey in 2009 and currently operates from offices in Istanbul, Ankara and Gaziantep. To date, the EBRD has invested over €4 billion in the country across 126 projects in infrastructure, energy, agribusiness, industry and finance. In just five years the EBRD’s portfolio in Turkey has become one of the largest among the countries where the Bank works.