Istanbul based firm buys stage in Italy’s port

ISTANBUL/TRIESTE

The daily train capacity of the terminal will be raised, enabling Turkish trucks to reach European countries without entering highway traffic.

U.N. Ro-Ro, which has been operating for around 20 years in Turkey’s maritime sector, has acquired some 60 percent of Samer Seaports terminal, operating in the Port of Trieste at the north-most point of Italy.

The deal was inked in Trieste on Dec. 16, having been the Turkish firm’s first foreign port investment.

“U.N. Ro-Ro plans to enlarge the capacity of the port by making some 8.5 million euros of additional investment by the beginning of next year. The daily train capacity of the terminal will then be raised to six trains, enabling Turkish trucks and containers to reach central European countries without entering highway traffic,” said the chief of the company, Sedat Gümüşoğlu via a written statement on Dec. 18.

U.N. Ro-Ro was established by international transport companies in Istanbul in 1994 and has become one of the fastest growing freight Ro-Ro operators in the Mediterranean Sea. In December 2007, U.N. Ro-Ro and its subsidiary companies’ majority shares and management were transferred to an international investment fund, Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts (KKR) for 910 million euros. The Istanbul-based company owns 12 ships which sail on routes linking Istanbul and other Turkish cities to Trieste in Italy, Toulon in France, among others.