Sek Sut’s Owner Seeks Sale of Turkish Dairy Business

(Bloomberg) --

Turkish food producer Tat Gida Sanayi AS has drawn interest from potential international buyers for its dairy business, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company, which is owned by Turkey’s largest conglomerate Koc Holding AS, hired Unlu & Co. in December on the potential sale of Sek Sut, the company said in a filing on Thursday, confirming an earlier story by Bloomberg News. No decision has been made on any of the alternatives the firm is considering for the division, it said.

Tat Gida shares rose as much as 7.2% to 9.54 liras in Istanbul, the most since May 27. Koc Holding fell as much as 1.2%. The people asked not to be identified because the talks are confidential

Sek products accounted for almost half of Tat Gida’s 377 million liras ($56 million) in sales during the first quarter of this year, with a rise of 44% compared with a year ago, according to Tat Gida’s website.

Koc Holding acquired Sek Sut in 1997 from a group of investors that bought it from the government two years earlier. In 2003, it merged tomato paste maker Tat with Sek to create Tat Gida.

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