Trieste Bidco Denizcilik ve Tasimacilik, a newly-formed company wholly owned by investment funds advised by Kohlberg Kravis, has definitively agreed to acquire 97.6 per cent of the shares
Trieste Bidco Denizcilik ve Tasimacilik, a newly-formed company wholly owned by investment funds advised by Kohlberg Kravis, has definitively agreed to acquire 97.6 per cent of the shares in U.N Ro-Ro Isletmeleri, a roll-on, roll-off ferry operator operating services between Turkey and Europe.
The transaction values the U.N Ro-Ro Group at EUR910m on a cash and debt-free basis.
KRR describes the deal as a landmark transaction as the first private equity-led buyout in Turkey with a value in excess of USD1bn.
Founded in 1993, U.N Ro-Ro transports 37 per cent of the truck traffic between Turkey and Europe with nine ro-ro vessels that operate services between the Turkish ports of Pendik and Ambarli and Trieste in Italy.
The debt financing for the acquisition has been arranged by Turkish banks Garanti Bankasi and Turkiye Is Bankasi. There will be further financing for four new ships that are on order. Completion of the transaction is subject to competition clearance in Turkey, Italy, Austria and Germany and is expected before the end of the year.
‘We believe in the growth of trade between Turkey and Europe, and U.N Ro-Ro’s important role in that development,’ says KKR member John Pfeffer. ‘U.N Ro-Ro’s future success will be built on continuing to provide a high-quality, reliable service at a competitive cost, investing in new ships and capacity and contributing to the success of the truckers and exporters it serves.
‘We are very interested in the Turkish market and believe that private equity can play a helpful role by investing to support the growth of businesses. This is our first investment here, and we hope to find other investment opportunities in the future.’
U.N Ro-Ro chief executive Cuneyt Solakoglu says: ‘U.N Ro-Ro has over the past years become a financially strong and successful Turkish company with an international reputation. With KKR and its global operational and financial expertise behind us, we can build on this to take U.N Ro-Ro to the next stage of its growth and development.’
Established in 1976, with offices in New York, Menlo Park, San Francisco, London, Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo, KKR manages funds that make private equity investments in North America, Europe and Asia. The firm also sponsors KKR Private Equity Investors, a permanent capital fund that invests in KKR-identified investments, and two credit strategy funds, KKR Financial and the KKR Strategic Capital Funds, that invest in debt transactions.
