Famous retail chain to go public: Exporting company applies to the CMB

Altun Gıda Chairman of the Board Zeki Altun and Altun Gıda Board Member Anıl Altun held a press conference in Adana to announce the IPO process. During the meeting, the company's development story, investments, goals, and IPO plans were explained.

IPO PROCEEDS WILL OPEN THE DOOR TO NEW INVESTMENTS

With the proceeds from the IPO, the company aims to carry out acquisitions, use them as working capital, make new investments in production, and strengthen its influence in global markets.

Within the framework of the IPO plan, according to the draft prospectus included in the application, it is planned to offer a total of 20 million shares worth 20 million liras to the public, consisting of 15 million shares with a nominal value of 15 million liras to be increased due to the increase of the company's issued capital from 127 million liras to 142 million liras, and 5 million shares with a nominal value of 5 million liras from the partners. With this process, the company's free float rate will be 14.08 percent.

ALTUN GIDA IS ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S TOP 5 COMPANIES IN FRUIT AND VEGETABLE EXPORTS

Realizing 98 percent of its sales for export, Altun Gıda produces products such as lemons, oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, as well as grapes, watermelons, strawberries, cherries, apples, melons, peaches, nectarines, apricots, pomegranates, pears, tomatoes, leeks, cucumbers, zucchini, and carrots, and also has them produced by its contracted farmers.

Producing in accordance with European Union norms on 3 million 400 thousand square meters of land, Altun Gıda made a significant contribution to Turkey's 3.4 billion dollar fresh fruit and vegetable exports last year and ranked among the top 5 companies with the highest exports.

Having become a supplier to famous supermarkets with exports compliant with EU norms, the company makes a large portion of its exports to international giant retail market chains.

Altun Gıda, which carries out citrus production in accordance with EU norms on its own 3.4 million square meter agricultural land, has a 14 thousand square meter closed facility on a 32 thousand square meter area in Hatay Dörtyol, and 2 thousand 200 meters of closed cold storage and shock-freezing rooms within a 6 thousand square meter area.

Unifrutti, the subsidiary in Romania that Altun Gıda acquired in 2004 and of which it owns 100 percent, adds efficiency to the company's operations in terms of exporting to 27 European Union member countries from a single point. Unifrutti, one of Europe's largest cold storage and supply chain centers, maintains product diversity throughout the year by sourcing products from world markets such as Argentina, South Africa, Italy, and China, as well as Turkey and Greece.

CAME FROM TAILORING, BECAME ONE OF TURKEY'S EXPORT GIANTS

Meeting with journalists, Altun Gıda Chairman of the Board Zeki Altun and Altun Gıda Board Member Anıl Altun shared the company's development story, investments, and goals, primarily the IPO.

Explaining his journey into business life, Altun Gıda Chairman of the Board Zeki Altun said that he came to Istanbul for his military service, worked as a tailor first, and then returned to his hometown of İskenderun upon his father's passing, laying the foundations of what is today Altun Gıda.

Altun said, "As you know, Hatay is on the trade routes of the Middle East. I started in 1981 by selling white goods from Hatay to the region. I established good collaborations in countries like Lebanon, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. Later, the people I did business with started asking me for other products as well. I started selling fresh fruits and vegetables too. I rented a production facility. I worked with contracted farmers in the Hatay and Çukurova region, and later we had our own farms," he said.

TEACHING FARMERS THE HARMS OF PESTICIDES

Recalling that they decided to start production in 2011, Altun stated that they differentiated themselves at an important point and explained the harms of pesticide use to farmers.

Altun said, "Thus, we separated ourselves from our competitors by exporting products at European standards. This approach of ours became a turning point that truly started our story.

Today, in accordance with net exporter criteria, we export to the European Union, Russia, the USA, the UK, Canada, Ukraine, the Far East, and Middle East markets. At the point we have reached, we are experiencing the excitement of an IPO as one of Turkey's major vegetable and fruit exporters," he stated.

'WE MAINTAIN THE FRESHNESS OF THE PRODUCTS WITHOUT INTERRUPTION'

Altun Gıda Board Member Anıl Altun emphasized that they grow products on their own fields in Çukurova and Hatay, package them in their own facilities, and deliver them to the produce sections of international market chains with their own trucks, and that they have an annual consolidated trade volume of 100 thousand tons of fresh fruits and vegetables, adding that one of the important milestones for Altun Gıda will be going public.

Emphasizing that they use the highest technology in their facilities, Altun noted that they have 8 degreening machines and cold storage with a capacity of 3 thousand tons, and 2 automatic citrus processing machines, and that they maintain the freshness of the products without interruption.

"We produce our own electricity with a 1-megawatt rooftop solar power plant (GES)," said Altun, and continued his words as follows:

"In 2024, we commissioned our fully robotic, automation, and artificial intelligence-supported packaging machine investment. The amount of our investment, which we realized entirely with our own resources, is 101 million 650 thousand liras. Thanks to its 12-line system, 108 cameras, and near and far infrared (thermal) vision, it can detect and separate internal and external quality defects of the products. It sees 5 millimeters inside the product with infrared cameras, and detects the sugar ratio and the inside. In this way, packaging is done by determining which country the product is suitable for. While we could package 200 tons a day, with this machine, that is, robotically, we can package 1500 tons a day. In this way, our processing capacity has increased. With our capacity-increasing investments in 2024, our annual capacity increased from 93 thousand 262 tons to 918 thousand tons. That is, it increased 10-fold," he said.

Pointing out that responsibility in the food sector does not end when the products are loaded onto the truck, but when the process is completed when the products reach the shelf, Altun continued his words as follows:

"Not only our products, but all our processes, including production and distribution, are strictly and continuously audited according to international standards. We have the Global GAP and GRASP certificates, which are the standards of European Union retailers. This is a product tracking assurance provided by European Union (EU) retailers to their consumers. Besides this, Good Agricultural Practices, Chain of Custody (CoC), Sedex, and BRCGS Food Safety Certificate also reveal the standards of our production and product quality," he said.

GIANT COMPANY AWAITS APPROVAL FOR IPO

Touching on the usage targets of the IPO proceeds, Anıl Altun said that they plan to allocate a significant portion of the proceeds to production.

Explaining that they see many opportunities, especially in the field of production and agricultural technologies, Altun said, "There are greenhouses that use geothermal resources; while continuing production here, we also aim to make investments. Company acquisitions in this field are also possible," he said.

Pointing out that their company, which has equity of over 4.5 billion liras, has a strong financial structure, Altun concluded his words as follows:

"The company's consolidated net sales increased by 60.9 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year, rising to 2 billion 11 million liras. In 2023, it was 2 billion 22 million liras with an increase of 0.6 percent. In the first six-month period of 2024, it increased by 34.3 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching 1 billion 445 million liras. The 2024 year-end is not yet finalized, but we have grown in line with our expectations. Our net profit was 61.8 million liras in 2021, 68 million liras in 2022, and 360.7 million liras in 2023. We are awaiting independent audit data for the 2024 year-end. The year 2024 was positive in terms of our activities," he said, ending his speech.