Turkish billionaire Ferit Sahenk Eyes Commercial Project’s Sale to Qatar Investment Authority

Turkish billionaire Ferit Sahenk is interested in the possibility of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) acquiring a cruise port project his firm, Dogus Group. 

Galataport is the US$1.7-billion commercial project Sahenk is interested in selling to the QIA. This development features a shopping mall and a cruise port in Istanbul’s center. Sahenk’s Dogus Group built Galataport with a smaller collaborator, Bilgili Holding, under a 30-year government agreement.

Galataport’s location is on the Bosphorus Strait with a 1.2-kilometer coastline. This bustling area has approximately 1.5 million passengers and 25 million visitors annually. Postponements beset Galataport, which opened for business in 2021. A US$1.1-billion loan partly bankrolled this development project, and Sahenk intends to utilize any proceeds from a possible sale to repay that debt obligation, according to the people familiar with the matter. 

They refused to be identified, citing that the discussions on the Galataport project are private and are in preliminary stages. The people also pointed out that an official arrangement or deal may not happen eventually. 

In Istanbul, shares in Dogus Real Estate Investment Trust, or REIT, a division of Sahenk’s holding firm, surged as much as 8.6 percent on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. The QIA refused to give an official statement regarding the Galataport deal. Spokespersons for Bilgili Holding and Dogus Group were not available to provide official remarks. 

Sahenk was once Turkey’s wealthiest man. As a successful business magnate, he invested tremendously in restaurants, hotels, and marinas after he sold his Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS stake to Spain’s BBVA for approximately US$5 billion in 2010.

As a component of debt restructuring, Sahenk’s Dogus Group has been attempting to raise funds for the past few years. The Turkish billionaire’s company, which is one of Turkey’s biggest private-sector conglomerates, has also been trying to deliver on pledges it made to financial institutions. Dogus Group agreed to have a 30-percent stake in an upscale Istanbul shopping mall sold to a QIA branch in 2020.

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