Turkish flour miller secures investment

FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, announced its support of Turkish flour milling company Ulusoy Un Sanayi ve Ticaret AS with a $25 million senior debt facility. The six-year facility will be used to improve Ulusoy’s milling capacity and distribution network as well as to acquire Söke Degirmencilik Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, a flour producer consumer brand.

According to FMO, the acquisition of Söke Degirmencilik will strengthen Ulusoy’s transition from exclusively business-to-business to include business-to-consumer channels. Ulusoy mostly has been active in supplying food processors, bakeries and organizations, including the World Food Program.

Founded in 1969, Ulusoy is one of the largest wheat flour milling companies in Turkey. The company purchases wheat from across Turkey and abroad in the Black Sea region, and then processes it into flour in its milling facilities in the cities of Samsun and Çorlu/Tekirdağ. Approximately half of the flour sales are locally distributed to B2B Turkish customers, while the other half is sent to export markets such as lesser-developed countries across the MENA and Sub-Saharan Africa region, according to FMO.

This is not the first time FMO and Ulusoy have partnered. In 2018, FMO provided a long-term facility of $18 million to finance the construction of Ulusoy’s flour mill in the port city of Samsun.

“With support of FMO, Ulusoy has now become the biggest flour producer in the country, as well as the owner of a well-known consumer brand, Söke,” said Gunhan Ulusoy, chairman of Ulusoy. “We believe that this is just the beginning of the way for us in B2C world. While we will keep our commitment to produce safe and healthy food products, more dreams will come true with the support of our stakeholders like FMO, which will stimulate our further growth.”

Bram Reijnen, manager of agribusiness, food and water at FMO, added, “We are pleased to further strengthen our relationship with Ulusoy, an important staple food producer, contributing to the food security in the region. By signing this facility, FMO confirmed its support for strong private companies in the food sector in the times of a more difficult economic climate of Turkey.”

WORLD-GRAIN.com

Tags: flour, milling, FMO, Ulusoy Un Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, Söke Degirmencilik Sanayi ve Ticaret AS, business-to-business, business-to-consumer