Çalık Holding

Çalık Holding is a Turkish company that has been operating in the energy, construction, mining, textile, finance, and telecom sectors since the 1980s. Founder and chairman Ahmet Çalık began his business career in the textile industry, founding Orta Doğu Tekstil in 1981 and Çalık Denim in 1987. During the early-1990s independence of CIS countries, he made his first foreign investments and founded Gap Pazarlama (to increase his company's share of international textile trading) and Gap İnşaat (to build plants). These companies were brought together as Çalık Holding in 1997. The umbrella company founded Çalık Enerji in 1998 and Aktif Bank in 1999, to enter the energy and finance sectors.
Growing by investments since the 2000s, Çalık Holding acquired Banka Kombëtare Tregtare (operating in Albania and Kosovo). The group acquired ALBtelecom (Albania's oldest landline operator and Internet provider) in 2007, entering the telecom sector.
Çalık Holding entered the mining sector in a partnership with Canadian-based Anatolia Minerals, a member of the Toronto Stock Exchange. It founded Çalık Cotton in 2011, aiming to be among the top 10 global companies in the cotton trade.
After participating in the privatization of the electricity-distribution sector, Çalık Holding provided electricity to seven million customers (according to 2015 data). The company acquired YEDAŞ in 2010, Kosovo Electricity Distribution Company (KEDS, in association with Limak Holding) in 2012, and ARAS EDAŞ (in association with Kiler Holding) in 2013.
Subsidiary Çalık Enerji was included in ENR annual list of top 250 international contractors. The company turned its 20-year business relationship with the Mitsubishi Corporation into a partnership in 2015, when Mitsubishi acquired 4.5 percent of Çalik Enerji. Çalık Holding employs over 28,000 people in 17 countries, and its assets are valued at US$7.6 billion.
Sectors
Textiles
Çalık's background is in textiles, with the family's involvement in the sector dating to the 1930s. The first company, Ortadoğu Tekstil, was founded by Ahmet Çalık in 1981; Gap Güneydoğu Tekstil was founded to manufacture denim in 1987. In 1997, a factory was established in Turkmenistan.
Media
Çalık Group acquired Albtelecom and became a landline operator and Internet provider in Albania in 2007. The company acquired Turkuvaz Media Group, which owns the Sabah newspaper and ATV television station, from the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund of Turkey the following year. The $1.1-billion sale was controversial in Turkey, since it was partially financed by $750 million in loans from two state banks (VakıfBank and Halkbank) and sold for the minimum price; Çalık was the sole bidder. A Turkish law limiting foreign ownership to 25 percent of media assets was believed to have contributed to the situation. The acquisition was also financed with a 25-percent investment from Qatar, allegedly requested by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (a "close associate" of Çalık chairman Ahmet Çalık); former Çalık CEO Berat Albayrak is Erdoğan's son-in-law.
Turkuvaz' holdings, in addition to Sabah and ATV, include the newspapers Takvim, Yeni Aktüel and Pas Fotomaç. In 2012, Çalık attempted to sell the company.
Energy
Çalık Enerji
Yeşilırmak Electricity Distribution Company (YEDAS)
Kosovo Energy Distribution Services (KEDS)
Aras Edaş
In 2012, Çalık Holding completed construction of a new power plant in Iraq. It and another plant (under construction) will supply 2,000 MW and a potential capacity of 4,500 MW.
Construction and real estate
Gap İnşaat
Çalık Gayrimenkul
Mining
Lidya Madencilik
Polimetal Madencilik
The company signed joint venture agreements with Alacer Gold (Çalık Holding's partner in the Çöpler Gold Mine in Iliç, Erzincan) for 16 properties in a number of Turkish cities, and owns 50 percent of the three companies established for this purpose. Gold production in Erzincan's Çöpler Gold Mine exceeded 185,000 ounces in 2011.
Finance
Çalıkbank was founded in 1999, and was renamed Aktif Yatırım Bankası in 2008. Sixty percent of Albania's Banka Kombetare Tregtare was acquired in 2006, and the remainder in 2009. Other financial holdings are BKT. and Aktif Bank. The latter has come under scrutiny for potential money-laundering and other financial crimes.
Telecommunications
ALBtelecom
References
External links
1997 establishments in Turkey
Beşiktaş
Conglomerate companies of Turkey
Holding companies established in 1997
Holding companies of Turkey
Newspaper companies of Turkey