WASHINGTON, D.C., June 26 -- The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has signed an investment agreement to provide US$80 million for an expansion program of Arçelik A. S., a Koç Group company.
Arçelik, the largest private sector company in Turkey, manufactures a wide range of consumer durables. The company is the market leader in the white goods sector in Turkey and has an average annual sales revenue of US$1 billion over the last four years. The expansion program is to improve productivity and product range in the company's refrigerator and washing machine plants and to modernize the existing dishwasher, air conditioner and vacuum cleaner production lines. The total project cost is US$230 million.
The Koç Group, a Fortune Global 500 corporation with US$11.5 billion in sales, is the largest conglomerate in Turkey and is now celebrating its 70th year. The group comprises 92 consolidated companies and is a major player in the automotive industry, consumer goods, energy, mining, construction, international trade, finance, and tourism sectors. Arçelik, the flagship of the Koç consumer durables group, is one of the top ten household appliance producers in Europe.
"The IFC financing of this project is a path-breaking 10 year loan which is an important vote of confidence in both the company and the Turkish manufacturing sector" said Mr. Edward Nassim, Director of IFC's Europe Department. "Companies such as Arçelik have shown that they are here for the long term, despite the often extreme volatility of the macro-economic situation in Turkey".
IFC is providing US$40 million for its own account and US$ 40 million is being provided by a group of participating banks including Credit Lyonnais S.A., Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd., The Sakura Bank, Limited, WestLB Group, Societe Generale and Citibank, N.A.
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest multilateral source of equity and loan financing for private sector projects in developing countries.
