(Bloomberg) — Yildiz Holding AS, the Turkish conglomerate behind Godiva chocolates and McVitie’s biscuits, will sell its marinas to focus on its core food and retail businesses.
“At Yildiz Holding, we are prioritizing food and retail as part of our ongoing strategy to grow organically and strengthen our global partnerships. As part of this focus, we have decided to exit our marina and tourism investments,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday, in response to Bloomberg’s questions.
Yildiz didn’t disclose the estimated value of the assets it’s planning to sell.
Marinturk, a unit of Yildiz, operates marinas in Istanbul and the Mediterranean resort town of Gocek, popular with both domestic and international yacht owners. The facilities have a combined capacity of 972 yachts and 280 land parking spaces, according to the company’s website.
Yildiz Holding is one of the world’s biggest snack makers, producing more than 300 food brands across 45 factories in 12 countries and exporting to over 100 markets, according to its website.
The firm’s plans to exit marina and tourism investments follows an earlier decision to focus on what it considers to be high-growth sectors. Yildiz reorganized its food and retail business last year to boost efficiency and global competitiveness.
In the past decade, Yildiz expanded aggressively, acquiring billions of dollars worth of assets, including United Biscuits Holdings Plc and DeMet’s Candy Co. in the UK and US. That buying spree led it to renegotiate $7 billion of debt with creditors six years ago in what was then Turkey’s largest corporate debt restructuring ever.
(Updates with background in fifth paragraph.)
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