Finance informs Yildirim acquisition and growth strategy

Speaking at the Marine Money Conference in New York, Robert Yildirim, chief executive of Yilport parent Yildirim Group, said that, to date, financing for acquisitions has come from internal equity and from traditional bank debt; outside capital markets have not been tapped as yet.

His ambitions to gain a foothold in North America fit into a bigger finance template, part of a strategy he called “Go West”, where investors are more comfortable with projects in developed countries than with projects in the developing world.

To fuel a pace of one to three acquisitions per year, Mr Yildirim explained the necessity of reaching out to investors in the capital markets, whose comfort level would be raised through money raises tied to brownfield deals in developed countries.

With credibility and reputation established among investors, he explained: “We can use this power to go to developing markets such as Africa.” He noted that his company has given a mandate to finance house JP Morgan for a private placement where investors could acquire a minority stake in Yildirim Holdings.

As far as plans for the Americas, he noted: “US ports are 10- 20 years behind European and Asian ports,” and described a plan to bring automation to port facilities while retaining the present labour force.

When asked about greenfield investments, he stated a preference for brownfield projects, but said that greenfield much be considered if a liner company co-invests.