Bloomberg: Qatar Wealth Fund may buy Galataport

Ferit Şahenk is alleged to have met with Qatar Wealth Fund Qatar Investment Authority for the sale of Galataport.

According to sources who spoke to Bloomberg, Şahenk asked the Qatar Investment Authority to evaluate the Qatar Wealth Fund’s interest in purchasing Galataport.

Şahenk plans to use the proceeds from the possible sale of Galataport, for the construction of which he used a loan of 1.02 billion euros ($1.1 billion), to close the loan.

Stating that the Galataport project is partially financed by a loan and that Şahenk plans to use the proceeds from a possible sale to pay off this debt, the people said that negotiations are still at an early stage and may not lead to an agreement .

THE OPENING WAS POSTPONED

Galataport, the $1.7 billion cruise port built by Doğuş Group and Bilgili Holding, faced delays and opened in 2021.

The port, which has a 1.2-kilometer shoreline on the Bosphorus, aimed to receive an average of 25 million visitors and 1.5 million passengers a year.

Doğuş, Bilgili and the Qatar Investment Authority did not comment to Bloomberg on the matter.

THEY SOLD THE İSTİNYE PARK

Şahenk, once Turkey’s richest person, spent heavily on hotels, marinas and restaurants after selling his shares in Türkiye Garanti Bankası to Spain’s BBVA for about $5 billion.

Şahenk’s company, Doğuş Holding, has been trying to raise cash and meet commitments it made to banks as part of debt restructuring over the past few years.

In 2020, the company sold 30 percent of the shares in Istinye Park, the shopping center in Istanbul, to the Qatar Wealth Fund.