Turkish industrial group Sanko Holding made the highest bid of $128m in the sell-off tender of cement factory Gaziantep Cimento, it was reported on October 14, 2005. Sanko entered the open bid session, which started at $127m after the closed bids, offering immediately $128m, which forced the remaining 13 bidders to drop out. Thus Gaziantep Cimento tender proceeded without competition, unlike the other tenders of the Uzan family cement factories.
Gaziantep Cimento was offered for sale at a starting price of $47m by Turkish Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), a fund that manages banks taken into receivership by the state. Gaziantep Cimento, southeastern Turkey, was set up in 1961. Uzan family paid $52.7m for it in 1992.
The cement factory, which holds 19 per cent of the market in the southeastern part of the country, registered a turnover of 35.3 mln new Turkish lira (US$25.8m) from January to September 2005. Gaziantep Cimento has an annual capacity of 495,000t of clinker and 1,089,000t of cement.
