Souter Investments completes $861 million deal for Turkish ferry business IDO

Aug. 25, 2011 - PRLog -- IDO, which has been purchased from Istanbul Municipality, operates 52 vessels in the Sea of Marmara and carries more than 50 million passengers a year. The business had sales in 2010 of $231 million.

Partnering Souter Investments in the deal are Turkish companies Tepe, Akfen and Sera and a number of Scots investors including Ann Gloag and Sir Angus Grossart.

The Souter investor group hold a 30% stake in the acquired business with Brian Souter being the largest single investor.

Substantial investments will now be made in IDO’s operations to provide passengers with an even better service. More frequent services on key routes and better integration with land transport services are among the improvements planned.

The new owners have a wealth of transport experience.  Souter Investments owns and operates the highly successful Fullers Ferry Group in New Zealand while Tepe and Akfen operate Turkey’s largest airport Ataturk which serves Istanbul.

The goal is to ensure motorists opt for seabus and ferry transportation rather than making long and frustrating road journeys in and around Istanbul.

With a population of more than 13 million, Istanbul is the main driver behind Turkey’s fast improving, high growth economy. The purchase of IDO gives the consortium the opportunity to play a key role in driving further economic prosperity in the region.  

The Souter consortium beat off fierce competition to secure the business when it was put up for auction by Istanbul Municipality. Rival bidders included Stena, the international ferry operator and Koç Holding, Turkey’s largest conglomerate.

Background Facts On IDO

IDO was founded as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (‘IMM’) in 1987.

It had a turnover of 391m TRL for the year to 31 December 2010.

IDO runs 3 lines of operations: fast ferries, sea buses and conventional ferries using:

   25 sea buses;
   10 fast ferries;
   17 conventional ferries

It operates 9 intercity and 5 inner-city lines through its 35 pier network - 21 of these piers are located within Istanbul, and the remaining 14 are along the coastal line of the Marmara Region.

Twenty-six of the 35 piers are leased from the Municipality. The remaining piers are leased from variety of different landlords.

Please visit http://www.souterinvestments.com for more information.