“We Have Opened Our Eyes And Are Looking Around Us”

Cahit Paksoy runs the packaging and data processing groups at Yıldız Holding and he has a very busy agenda. At the same time as he is making the future projections of the data processing group, he is also looking for ways for the packaging group to grow inorganically. He wants to have a volume of US$1 billion in 2008 and US$1.5-2 billion in 2009. He says that acquisitions and consolidation are vital in order to grow quickly here.

* Ülker entered packaging to meet its own needs. How did you reach the position you are in today?
Ülker had to go into packaging straight after it went into foodstuffs. Because, in those years, there were no products in Turkey of a sufficient quality for the packaging of its own products. As a result, it invested in packaging. Over the years, Ülker has really developed itself in the packaging business.

* How much of the packaging you do today is for yourselves and how much for other companies?
The packaging adventure that Ülker began for its own needs continues today with about 10 percent of production for the group and 90 percent for other companies on domestic and foreign markets.

* What is your position on the market?
Ülker is both a group which uses a lot of packaging and the biggest packaging company. When we look at it today, Polinas is the biggest packaging company in Turkey and has a market share of over 50 percent. 40 percent of its output is exported. Farmamak is the largest company in its sector. Exports account for 20 percent of its total sales. Tire Kutsan, in which we now have only a minority shareholding, is the biggest producer of corrugated cardboard in Turkey. Duran Doğan, in which we also have a share, has the best cardboard processing press. 60 percent of its output is exported to international brands. In general, these companies sell one third of their production abroad.

* What is the total turnover of the companies in the packaging group?
We sold 54 percent of Tire Kutsan to the Mondi Group, the global packaging giant. We have a small shareholding there and it would not be right for us to count Tire Kutsan’s turnover. Polinas’s turnover is approximately US$250-300 million. Farmamak has a turnover of over US$100 million. Duran Doğan’s turnover is the same again. We are investing US$15 million in Farmamak this year. Over the next three years we shall increase Farmamak's capacity threefold. We shall also be investing in Polinas. In addition to this, as with the other Ülker companies, we have our eyes open and are looking around us.

* You previously announced that you were thinking of acquiring a company or consolidating. What is the latest situation?
The latest developments cannot be announced at the moment. We are working very seriously on both issues. I mean, we can both buy a company and form a partnership. Maybe when things firm up, in autumn or towards the winter, we shall say more.

Özlem Aydın Ayvacı
oaydin@capital.com.tr