Dubai’s Abraaj Plans Further Turkey Deal Next Year

Abraaj Capital Ltd., the Dubai-based buyout firm which recently bought Turkish dairy maker Yorsan Gida Mamulleri AS, said it plans at least one further investment in the country next year.

The firm, with five exits since its first Turkish investment in 2007, is in talks with companies including in the food and education industries, Selcuk Yorgancioglu, Abraaj’s regional head for Central Asia and Turkey, said in an interview.

Abraaj, which bought 80 per cent of dairy producer Yorsan Gida Mamulleri AS for an undisclosed price this month, is among private equity investors in Turkey including The Carlyle Group LP, BC Partners Ltd., Citi Venture Capital International and KKR & Co. LP. They’ve bought assets seeking to benefit from economic growth exceeding five percent a year on average during Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decade-long rule.

“We will have an active year in 2014,” Yorgancioglu said in Istanbul. “We want to have at least one opportunity turned into reality next year,” he said.