Istanbul Municipality to Sell the Land of Major Bus Terminal
Istanbul municipality is preparing to sell the land of the Esenler bus terminal, the biggest in Istanbul, an executive of the operator company told the Anatolia news agency.
Avrasya Terminal İşletmeleri, the operator, is ready to offer $200 million for the land once it is put on sale, Necmi Hatipoğlu, an advisor to the company said.
Avrasya Terminal İşletmeleri holds the right to operate the terminal, a build-operate-transfer model, until 2019. The company also owns 52 percent stake in Metro, a nation-wide bus company
The 100,000 square meters of land, which was once considered to be the outskirts of the city, today has become extremely precious due to the newly built housing projects and shopping malls around it, Hatipoğlu said.
Still, Avrasya is determined to continue operating the facility and become the landowner, he said. “We have an eight year advantage. Even if another company wins [a probable] tender, it will have to pay us for our usage rights of eight years, which is a great amount of money. This is our advantage; I can say.”
The company has already launched attempts to buy the land, the Anatolia quoted the advisor as saying on Sunday.
“We heard something and we contacted municipality officials. We are preparing ourselves to act accordingly.”
No schedule for a tender has been announced yet, Hatipoğlu said. “We guess that the metropolitan municipality will launch the bidding before the end of this year. We are ready on all terms.”
Avrasya has some other advantages, being a contractor company which builds shopping malls, the advisor said. “We are not a corporation that only runs bus terminals – but an investor. The company has 168 shareholders. These are almost all the leading companies in the bus transportation business in Turkey. We operate nine terminals across the country, including ones in Kayseri, Samsun, Havza, Çarşamba, Erzincan and Çanakkale.”
If it wins the bidding, Avrasya’s priority would be operating the terminal. “I cannot say what time will bring us, but in the future of shopping mall residence projects may be considered. Still, the municipality should provide land for the bus terminal for such projects to be realized.
The area becomes extremely crowded before and after special occasions such as festivals and New Year’s days, Hatiopğlu said. “If a more rational investment comes onto the agenda such as building a terminal in some other place, we would be a candidate to undertake that business, too.”
In a probable acquisition, the company would use its equity capital, according to Hatipoğlu. The amount that Avrasya plans to pay for the land is around $200 million, he said. “Our company ranks second in the list of the highest tax paying transportation firms. We have a very strong financial structure. Instead of dividend distribution we are using our revenues in realizing legal obligations. We direct the entire remaining amount to new investments. We buy land, build tourism facilities and hotels. Thus, I don’t think that we will have problem in financing.”
The current positioning of the Istanbul bus terminal is also problematic as it stands on top of a river basin, the advisor said. “”This is a very big problem. We had a flood there last year. Still, in cooperating with the police, we have made here a very secure place. When it becomes our own land, we may make further investments.”
The terminal with a daily capacity of 15,000 buses had cost $140 million. The construction was finalized in May 1994.
June 19, 2011
SOURCE: HURRIYET DAILY NEWS
