MBO Interview
MBO Interview
Interview with Mr. Saygin Narin CEO of Global Ports Holding
Could you introduce us to your company’s past work and its plans for the future? Global Ports is a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Investment Holdings (“GIH”), a public company whose 99% of the shares trading in the Istanbul stock exchange. GIH was established in the early 90s as a stock brokerage and investment advisory house and has been a pioneer in the establishment and progress of the Istanbul Stock Exchange. In early 2004, it was re-organised as an Investment Holding Company. GIH currently holds investments in compressed natural gas distribution, power generation, mining, asset management, real estate development in addition to port Management and infrastructure. As Global Ports, we own the concession rights and operate three ports in the Mediterranean region of Turkey, namely Kusadası, Bodrum and Antalya Ports. All of our ports have cruise piers and we are proud to handle almost half of the total 2 million cruise passengers visiting Turkey. In Antalya Port, we handle some 250.000 TEU of containers and 3 million tons of General bulk cargo. Over the last three years, we have concentrated our efforts to increasing operational efficiency, marketing activities of our existing portfolio and have achieved great results. Our container volume has tripled in this three year period, on the other hand
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the number of cruise passengers visiting our ports has quadrupled since the privatization. Having streamlined our existing operations, accumulated knowledge and financial resources and achieved the organic growth targets, we are now seeking inorganic growth through privatizations, PPP’s and trade deals. In addition to Turkey, we are mainly exploring opportunities in the Adriatic and Middle East. What are the main strengths of your Company? Why would someone choose Global Ports over other similar companies? Similar to Montenegro, we are young, dynamic and growing. We have gained very valuable experience in turning around Antalya Port and trust that this know-how could be applied to the Port of Bar. We are one of the very few companies that operate cruise terminals in addition to the container and general bulk cargo. We are also very experienced in privatizations and in working under a regulated environment. We have established strong bonds and work in collaboration with export-import communities, regulators, shipping lines and trade unions which I believe is one of the crucial reasons for our success. Why did you choose Montenegro as your next destination for investments? The foreign investment atmosphere in Montenegro has the crucial elements of financial stability, security, fair legislation and regulation and equal treatment of foreign based firms. Turkey and Montenegro on the other hand have long established cultural and political ties, which make us feel as comfortable as if we were visiting our next door neighbour. When it comes to investing in port business, we do not see the ports of Montenegro serving the Montenegro market only. We believe, provided that we can influence the logistic chain, the ports could easily serve the
About Saygın Narin: Saygin Narin is the CEO of Global Ports Holding since 2010 and a board member of the Port of Akdeniz, Kusadası Cruise Port and Bodrum Cruise Port. Mr Narin previously served as the Managing Director of the Turkish Division of Statkraft AS; the European market leader in renewable energy generation. Prior to joining Statkraft, Mr Narin acted as the head of the Energy division at Global Investment Holding where he oversaw acquisition, financing, licensing, engineering and construction and finally the sale of energy generation assets consisting of a licensed portfolio of 1000MW. Between 1999 and 2007 Saygın Narin held various positions in RWE and Thames Water in Turkey, United Kingdom and South East Asia. From 2005 to 2007, he acted as non-executive director of Trans4M, a special purpose company in the course of PPP project to upgrade a majority of the underground stations in London, and was non-executive director of the China Water Company in Hong Kong and RWE Thames Water in Thailand. Mr Narin began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1996 and holds a BA in Business Administration from Bosporus University. land locked countries such as Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia Herzegovina. Container Terminal and General Cargo (CTGC) is a company that has not achieved great results lately. What would have to be done in order to make it competitive over other terminals in the region? What kind of potential do you recognize in Montenegro, especially with CTGC? First of all, I must say that we are long term investors. There have always been clinical cycles in the world economy, but in the long term there has been and there will be growth in trade and container volumes. Ports are one very significant link in the logistic chain, but it is just a link. The success of the port would depend mainly on the hinterland and logistics chain around the hinterland. These factors would need to be supported by efficient operations, modern equipment, solid infrastructure and impeccable service standards.
southern Adriatic ports. We will work on the land and rail logistic chains very closely to achieve this target. We plan to raise the service standards by investing in cranes and systems. We are already communicating with container lines to convince them to increase their calls to Bar. We also envisage the use of the existing covered warehouse capacity of the port to a larger extent. Last but not least, using our extensive cruise experience, we aim to use CTGC piers to welcome cruise ships. We believe the hinterland of Bar has a lot to offer to cruise passengers. ■
Currently CTGC handles approximately 30.000 TEU, most of these are destined for Montenegro itself. Our aim would be to re-convert CTGC to the main gateway for Serbia and Kosovo, both of which currently uses
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