Centricus, Global Said in Talks to Buy Istanbul Portfoy Stake

(Bloomberg) -- London-based buyout firm Centricus Asset Management Ltd. and Turkey’s Global Yatirim Holding AS are in talks to buy a stake in independent money manager Istanbul Portfoy Yonetimi AS, people with knowledge of the plan said.

Centricus and Istanbul-based Global are considering purchasing a minority stake, said one of the people, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. They’d later look to merge Istanbul Portfoy with Actus Portfoy Yonetimi AS, an asset-management firm 90 percent owned by Global, the person said.

Global Yatirim, Centricus and Istanbul Portfoy each declined to comment on the talks.

Centricus, founded by former Deutsche Bank AG bankers Michele Faissola and Nizar Al-Bassam, along with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. investment banker Dalinc Ariburnu, bought 30 percent of Global Yatirim for 245 million liras ($53 million) last year. Global has interests in ports, renewable energy and finance.

Centricus and Actus are also working to raise a fund of as much as $1 billion to invest in infrastructure projects, Actus Chief Executive Officer Baris Hocaoglu said last year. The acquisition of the Istanbul Portfoy stake would be part of that fund project, one of the people said. Mehmet Kutman, Global’s chairman, said in an interview with Anadolu Agency this year that Actus plans at least one acquisition and aims to become Turkey’s largest independent portfolio-management firm.

Istanbul Portfoy, founded in 2007, manages 19 mutual funds in its portfolio, according to its website.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ercan Ersoy in Istanbul at eersoy@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Benjamin Harvey at bharvey11@bloomberg.net, Vernon Wessels

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