Arkas

completed

The Arkas Group (Arkas or the Group) is a diversified transportation conglomerate and Turkey’s leading company in the field of container transportation. The Group’s subsidiaries are primarily involved in agency services, port operations, and sea, road, and rail transportation. They also provide complementary services such as freight forwarding, machinery and vehicle maintenance, and warehousing. Arkas’s technical capabilities, integrated logistics chain, and strong, long-term relationships with international shipping companies have allowed it to develop a strong market position, offering an excellent platform for continued successful growth. IFC’s corporate loan would provide Arkas with the financial flexibility to proceed with some or all of a number of transportation sector development opportunities in different regions of the country, which will allow the Group to meet the region’s expected growth in container traffic. Investments currently being considered by Arkas, inter alia, include: - enhancements to the Group’s port operations, including the greenfield development of Autoport (formerly known as Zeyport), a car export terminal located on the Sea of Marmara;- the potential acquisition of a concession to develop Iskenderun port (located near the Syrian border), once its privatization proceeds; - the acquisition of additional port equipment to support Arkas’ current port operations; and - the acquisition of logistics equipment such as railway wagons to feed its port operations.