Turkey's Mado inks deals with GCC companies

ANKARA

Turkish deserts-and-food franchise, Mado, on Tuesday signed a strategic partnership with Venture Capital Bank (VCBank) and Al Sraiya Holding to extend in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.

"The partnership shows that capital from the Arabic world [has] trust in the Turkish economy," Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) President Rifat Hisarciklioglu said at the signing ceremony in Ankara.

"Turkish courage and Arab capital join forces together with the deal to extend Mado's business overseas" he added.

The deal valued at approximately $150 million allows Mado's Kahramanmaras-based owner to retain a 60 percent stake in the company. The remainder will be owned by Bahrain-based VCBank and Qatar-based Sraiya Holding, according to a person familiar with deal.

“We are delighted to announce our newest partnership, alongside Al Sraiya Holding Group and other strategic investors, with Mado," VCBank CEO Abdullatif Janahi said.

He said the deal with Mado, VCBank’s third major investment in Turkey, allows access to "a market on which we will continue to focus [on] due to its solid fundamentals and strong economic prospects."

The Turkish market is among the fastest growing in Europe and provides a strategic position and launch pad for global growth, particularly for companies active in the country’s food and beverage sector, according to Janahi.

“Having looked extensively at numerous local F&B [food and beverage] brands in Turkey, we selected Mado due to the high quality of its products, the strength of its brand as well the global nature of its business," he said, adding that the bank would look to strengthen Mado’s presence in the GCC region, followed by other global markets.

"We have delivered strong results year-after-year and fully expect that with a stronger strategic partner and additional resources, we are now better positioned than ever to deliver further growth and enhanced results across existing and new channels and markets alike," Mehmet Kanbur, Chairman of Mado Group, said.

He said Mado is looking to expand its operations in the Middle East, including in Saudi Arabia which is its biggest market, where demand for high quality products and dining experiences like those offered by Mado continues to grow.

"This is an exciting and important milestone for Mado and we look forward to building our brand globally and the value we deliver to our customers, employees and new partners," he added.

Mado, Turkey’s largest patisserie and ice-cream franchise, was established in 1962 as a single ice cream shop.

It has more than 1,150 staff in more than 310 stores across Turkey and more than 48 locations worldwide, including, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, China, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, Iraq, Kuwait, Nakhchivan, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE.