Not a hobby I'm serious

FERİT SAHENK is the board chair of Doğuş Holding, whose turnover of $5.257 billion makes it one of the largest groups in Turkey. He is one of the most powerful members of the business community. For this reason his agenda has great significance and what he does is closely followed. He has important targets in the restaurant, entertainment, sports and e-commerce businesses Doğuş has entered. It is making progress towards becoming a regional power in its existing businesses. Sahenk has some very ambitious goals for the future, stating: “We want to be among the first three in every area where we are active.” We spoke with Sahenk about the new businesses the group has entered, his targets for the businesses Sahenk is already in and his own agenda.


Capital: How ambitious are you in these fields?
Turkey has a population of 75 million. We reckon 50 percent of them are under the age of 30. Now Turkey wants to host global sports events such as the Olympics and the European Championships. When doing this, one should also give importance to Turkish sports. In this context, we have plans to open a sports academy together with IMG. Of course, in order to host the Olympics and World Cups, you also need people who can run such things well, stadiums and infrastructure to serve the stadiums. We want to move forward with IMG, which is a global giant in this field. We have established a 5050 partnership.

Capital: Why did you decide to enter this new field?
- There is a marketing philosophy which says “differentiate or die”. In fact, this is called the “entertainment economy”. We began to lean towards this area in 1998. Then came the crisis and we underwent a period of recovery. The restaurant business we have recently entered and the cooperation with IMG are a follow through from our original intention.

Capital: What exactly are you planning to do in sports?
- We are looking to manage the changing and developing stadiums in Turkey. We want to hold tournaments in which globally-known sportspeople and teams compete. We are looking at the sponsorship, organization, ticket sales and TV broadcasting for these. We are planning to conduct branding for these businesses and sell them abroad.~

Capital: What kind of market are we talking about here?
- This business will develop over time.

"FINANCE IS OUR FLAGSHIP"
Capital: How will the portfolio change as a result of the new investments”
- Finance is our flagship, of course. Last year, the turnover of our finance sector fell to 4 percent less than the rest of our activities. I mean, the split was around 48 percent to 52 percent. There were two reasons for the decrease. The first was that our automotive business did very well. The second was that after the BBVA sale our share fell from 31 percent to 25 percent. This created a difference in the turnover. When we look at the distribution of our portfolio, both restaurants and entertainment and the marina side declined in terms of the distribution of our total portfolio. At the moment, both account for a total of less than 10 percent. But I think that there will be a rapid progress in the field of sports. The answer to whether or not this develops into a major business depends on IMG’s performance. In any case, IMG would not have come to Turkey if it did not see a great potential. They entered China and Brazil in the same way, by establishing partnerships.

Capital: People think that you started the restaurant business as a hobby. What is your target here?
- I would not do anything under the Doğuş Holding umbrella which was a hobby of mine. Maybe we did not communicate the circumstances very well. After we entered the field, a lot of people became enthusiastic. There was no need for other groups to conduct feasibility studies.

Capital: What are your future expectations in this area?
- Turkey’s location puts it at the center of many of the world’s different cuisines. We think that there are many dishes in our own cuisine which have been forgotten. We want to bring all of them back. We are targeting two customer groups here. One consists of
Turks, the other of foreigners. In addition to this, we need to do something which is unique to Turkey.

Capital: Another of the new fields you have entered is e-commerce. How did you come to sign the agreement with the South Koreans?
- The SK Group is the third largest group in South Korea. It is mainly active in energy, telecommunications and petrochemicals. It employs approximately 70,000 personnel and has a turnover of $52 billion. Its 11st.co.kr online platform is the second largest in the Far East after eBay. Last year, its turnover reached $4 billion. The partnership we shall establish with SK will be 50-50. We shall Turkify their online platform for Turkey.~

Capital: Are you planning to enter any other areas?
- We need to digest the areas we have newly entered. Our strategy is to be one of the top three in each area in which we are active. We need to achieve this goal in the business we have recently entered. Our goal is not to enter and be spread amongst every kind of business activity, which was the case with the majority of Turkish holdings in 2000. The businesses we have entered are all related to a specific strategy.

Capital: How will you achieve your target of ranking amongst the top three in all of your business areas?
- This is a target that I have personally endorsed. Because nothing happens unless you set a target. But it is also important to make a profit here.

Capital: Are you looking at opportunities in Europe?
- Yes, we are particularly looking at opportunities in marinas in Europe. But in the first stage we began to be interested in neighboring countries. For example, we are working on four marinas in Greece. We have bid for a tender for a fifth. We have three marinas which are important for Turkey in Croatia. In addition, we are conducting research on hotels and the hotel trade in Europe. In terms of the tourism and marina group, we are interested in Italy.

Capital: Where do you see the Doğuş Group in five years?
- The Doğuş Group will be a group which shapes its ways of doing business according to changes in Turkey, the region and the realities of the world and not only adapts to innovations but realizes them.