Local carpet giant enters energy, real estate sectors

GAZİANTEP - Hürriyet Daily News

Erdemoğlu Holding Chairman İbrahim Erdemoğlu (2nd L) says they plan to produce the company’s energy need in carpet business.

The owner of Merinos, one of the world’s largest carpet producers, Erdemoğlu Holding, has entered the energy and real estate sectors by investing $100 million for a wind power plant project in Istanbul’s Çatalca district, which is planned to begin operating in 2014.

At a recent press conference in Gaziantep where the company’s carpet factories are located, Erdemoğlu Executive Board Chairman İbrahim Erdemoğlu said they were assertive about the energy sector, which primarily aims to produce the company’s energy need in carpet business.

Wind power plant to produce 52.5 MW

The company’s wind power plant is currently capable of producing 52.5 MW of energy, but Erdemoğlu said their $100 million budgeted investment would improve this to 200 million kWh per year.

“Our investments, especially in renewable energy, will continue in the upcoming term,” he said.

The company, which started production activities in 1970 by means of only two rug-weaving looms, made large investments in furniture and the home textile and yarn sectors, gathered all of its companies under one roof in 2010 and established Erdemoğlu Holding, now represented in 65 countries with 6,500 staff members.

Erdemoğlu said the company’s turnover in 2012 was 1 billion 800 million Turkish Lira, and it increased 13 percent as of October this year.

“We are the leaders in carpet producing in Turkey with our 20 percent share in the sector,” he said adding that reaching 40 percent was their target in five years.

The company has production facilities in Gaziantep and Russia and produced 30 million of square meter carpets in 2012 and exported to 70 countries, making $220 million in return.

It is also set to establish a faculty of architecture in Adıyaman’s Besni district, the family’s hometown to present to Adıyaman Univerity, and a high school was completed when an earthquake hit the Van province when it was set to start serving.

When Erdemoğlu was asked if the company was planning to go public in the future, he said their principle was to “go to the workers” as a first step, saying they have been sharing stocks with the workers for years and that this would continue.