How Did Yörsan, Who Founded the First White Cheese Factory, Go Bankrupt?

Yörsan, which has gained rapid momentum with its dairy products, which have become very popular in Turkey and loved by everyone, is in its last days. Sold to Dubai company and the appointment of trustees kept making headlines. We are sure that everyone is wondering how this painful process developed.

basics Yörsan, which was expelled in 1964, He literally became the pioneer of many milk and dairy products sold in Turkey. The bankruptcy of the company was something completely unexpected.

Yörsan has a deep-rooted history, once included in the “Top 500 Industrial Enterprises” list of the Istanbul Chamber of Industry.

Founded in 1964 as Yörükler Gıda Limited Şirketi Yörsan started cheese production in 1970. Approximately 9 years after gaining momentum in this way, he had the opportunity to expand his business by establishing his own dairy farm.

Of course, in this way, he was gaining fans day by day. When the calendar turns to 1984, Turkey’s first cheese factory The facility, which covers an area of ​​170 thousand square meters in Susurluk, was put into operation. With this breakthrough, he managed to become one of the pioneers in the sector.

since 1996 an aggressive growth strategy The company adopted this product and created a strong sales network throughout Turkey and raised the bar of competition with nearly 200 varieties in the milk and dairy products category.

According to Yörsan Factory Manager Ünal Mete in an interview in 2013, They had a daily milk processing capacity of 1 million 200 thousand liters in an area of ​​107,415 square meters.. Yörsan had a significant share in the Turkish dairy products market, producing 20-25% of cheese and 10-15% of yoghurt production.

The company exports on a large scale not only domestically but also abroad; It was exporting its products to approximately 25 countries, including the USA, Japan, Germany, Singapore and the Middle East.

In 2014, Yörsan established its second factory in Susurluk and was sold to Dubai private investment fund The Abraaj Group in the same year.

Within the framework of this agreement, 80% of Yörsan’s shares were transferred to the fund, which was among the 50 largest funds in the world at that time. Dairy Fresh, controlled by Abraaj Group was taken over by the company. These are the times when the ropes are tense…

In 2018, it was said that Abraaj Capital did not manage the company well. Abraaj CapitalFiled for bankruptcy protection at the beginning of 2018, sold $6 billion worth of assets to repay its debts, and then entered the liquidation process.

According to a news published in July of the same year; Abraaj authorized an investment bank for the sale of Yörsan. In the details of the news, Yörsan 200 million lira debt to banks and it was stated that its equity capital was negative due to losses continuing for years.

Allegedly, he is one of the founders of Yörsan Gıda Mamülleri A.Ş. Şerafettin Yörükfiled three lawsuits against Abraaj on the grounds that it caused its shares in the company to decrease from 20% to 3% through unfair capital increases. Naturally, this situation further deepened the conflicts and financial difficulties within the company.

On December 20, 2019, Cihat Şimşek, President of Balıkesir Milk Producers Association, was appointed as trustee to Yörsan.

Cihat Simsek

Meanwhile Abraaj was also sold to another company and the media was shaken by the arrest of its former CEO and managing partner. Besides all this, Yörsan also had a lot of debt to banks.

In the written statement made by Balıkesir Milk Producers Association At a time when Yörsan’s bankruptcy decision was expected, the court It was stated that upon the petition submitted by the committee, a decision was made to postpone bankruptcy and Şimşek was appointed as trustee.

During this period, workers of the Yörsan factory said that no explanation was given to them by the management, and they also expressed their concerns about not being able to receive their compensation and being unemployed in case the bankruptcy was accepted.

One month after appointment of trustee Teoman Yörük, founder of Yörsan and member of the Yörük Family He made the following statement: “At our current stage, we have presented a proposal to the officials of two private banks that will resolve the process legally. We also held preliminary discussions of financial alternative offers with officials of a public bank. “Yörsan’s return to its former successful days will only be possible if the offers we make to the banks are accepted.”

The concordat system is a system that is considered as a new agreement between the debtor company and the creditors.

Within the framework of this system, the debtor company is obliged to pay its debts within the specified period. When the court examines the concordat project and comes to the conclusion that the debtor meets the necessary conditions, It gives the debtor company a period of 2 months and requires that 50 percent of the debts be paid within this period. While capital companies, private companies and real persons can apply for concordat, bankruptcy postponement requests can only be made by capital companies.

While indebtedness is required in bankruptcy postponement, concordat In the announcement, it is sufficient to prove that the financial situation has deteriorated. The same situation occurred in Yörsan. He declared concordat due to the economic problems they were experiencing.

Already A trustee was appointed to the company in 2019. On July 10, 2020, Yörsan’s bankruptcy request was accepted by the Susurluk Civil Court of First Instance. The company was put up for sale by the Susurluk Enforcement and Bankruptcy Office on January 17, 2022, with the Bankruptcy Decision No. 2020/1.

Participating in the auction alone Matlı Holding will become the new owner of Yörsan company on January 17. He purchased the company for 150 million TL. We do not know what the Holding’s thoughts are about Yörsan, but the sudden disappearance of the company, one of Turkey’s most important milk and dairy products brands, was a great loss for the industry.

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