Newsletters
One of Türkiye's leading conglomerates, Sabanci Holding, has placed its retail chains CarrefourSA and Teknosa under "strategic review" for a potential sale, CEO Kivanc Zaimler confirmed on Tuesday.
"Enerjisa and Cimsa are growing through their own resources, and we will continue to allow room for growth in these areas,” Zaimler added, highlighting the strategic importance of the group’s energy and building materials investments during his address at a press briefing held at Sabanci Center.
"If a better strategic model emerges, or capital can be deployed more efficiently elsewhere, we evaluate it," he noted. "This is a natural part of our dynamic portfolio management system."
Following Zaimler’s remarks, Sabanci Holding shares on Borsa Istanbul rose 2.23% during Tuesday’s session, while Teknosa gained over 1% and CarrefourSA fell 5.5%.
CarrefourSA, a joint venture between French retailer Carrefour and Sabanci Holding, which holds a 57% stake, has operated in Türkiye since 1991, with more than 1,250 stores across 71 provinces and over 10,000 employees. Teknosa, the group’s electronics retail chain, was founded in 2000 and currently operates 175 stores with a workforce of more than 2,000.
CarrefourSA and Teknosa have come under pressure from falling profits and rising debt in recent years, reporting liabilities of ₺34.47 billion ($794.16 million) and ₺20.33 billion, respectively, against shareholder equity of just ₺571.46 million for CarrefourSA and ₺1.55 billion for Teknosa. In contrast, Enerjisa and Cimsa continued to grow steadily, posting profits of ₺445.23 million and ₺2.34 billion, respectively, during the same period, even as the group ramped up investments in both subsidiaries.
Zaimler said Sabanci manages its portfolio with a disciplined, agile investment mindset, aligning operations with global trends such as energy transition, advanced materials, and digital ecosystems. He noted that the company evaluates each investment area based on criteria including scalability, sustainability, digitalization, and capital efficiency. Growth, transformation, or divestiture decisions are guided by these metrics.
Core business areas such as financial services, energy and climate technologies, advanced materials, and digital solutions are expected to generate value multiples between 2x and 5x compared to traditional sectors, according to Zaimler.
Despite expanding its footprint to 18 countries, Sabanci continues to prioritize domestic investment. CEO Kivanc Zaimler noted that 87% of the group’s $5.9 billion in investments over the past five years have been allocated to Türkiye.
In 2024 alone, Sabanci tripled its investment volume compared to 2021, increasing it from $607 million to $1.8 billion. As of the first nine months of 2025, the group has already invested $1.3 billion.
Zaimler added that the group aims to reach a net asset value of $20 billion by 2029, up from its current level of $13.59 billion.
As part of its long-term transformation, Sabanci will transition from a sector-based to a portfolio-based governance model beginning Jan. 1, 2026. This structural shift is designed to improve execution agility and strengthen shared responsibility across group companies.
"Our goal is to position talent and ideas from Türkiye in a scalable way to boost global competitiveness and accelerate Sabanci’s sustainable growth," Zaimler said.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
1 min read
