World's fifth largest port terminal operator Cosco Pacific acquired Fina Holding's shares in Kumport Terminal for approximately 1 billion dollars which made it the largest Chinese investment in Turkey. Fina Holding transferred the 65% of the shares it had in Kumport to Chinese joint venture for 940 million dollars. Fina Holding bought the terminal for 255 million dollars in 2007. The purchase became the largest direct foreign investment from China into Turkey. Turkey’s 3rd largest port Kumport’s 1,3 million TEU capacity is now Chinese owned. The owner and the operator of the Istanbul Ambarli located port, Fina Liman’s 65% share is sold to a consortium led by one of China’s largest maritime companies, Cosco Pacific. Husnu Ozyegin who owned Fina Holding that acquired Kumport in May 2007 with Turkon Holding for 255 million dollars, had bought the remaining shares from its partner one year later. Husnu Ozyegin later on sold a 35% to Umman Investment Fund. The remaining shares were acquired in September by a joint venture of China Merchants Holding International (CMHI), China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) Group and China’s largest state fund, China Investment Corporation (CIC). Umman Investment Fund is said to maintain its 35% under its initiative Turkac. “THE SALE WILL CLEAR THE WAY FOR KUMPORT” In a TV interview in Bloomberg HT Fiba Holding Vice Executive President Murat Ozyegin underlined the importance the Chinese investors give to this acquirement, said to Arzu Maliki: “There is a great consolidation regarding port management in the world. We wanted to invest more however we could not. Other investors were more wiling in tenders.” Kumport Port Services bid in privatization tenders of Iskenderun Port in 2010 and Derince Port in 2014 but could not win. Underlining that the sale would clear the way for Kumport added: “We see this as a transaction that will increase Chinese trade to Turkey and highlight the silk road China wants to re-establish. It is a deal that will make Turkey a hub of ports.” AN IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION FOR “ONE BELT, ONE ROAD” Especially in foreign press, the comments raised on Kumport’s sale to the Chinese consortium have all agreed that this was an investment aligned with China’s `One Belt, One Road` policy. `One Belt, One Road` policy was announced by President of China Xi in late 2013. It promotes the effective access to European market by sea and land and unloading of excess production. Cosco has previously bought a minority share in Piraeus Port in Greece. Kumport investment is considered as an important part of the same strategy. COSCO IS THE 5TH LARGEST IN THE WORLD One of the largest Chinese state institutions, Cosco owns over 800 vessels and operates in 1600 ports across 160 countries. It has China’s largest fleet which is also the 5th in the world. China Merchant Group (CMG) that is headquartered in Hong Kong, was founded by the state in 1872. Group’s activities includes sea transport, port and dock management, energy transportation, infrastructure, banking and real estate. As the biggest group in Chinese maritime, it manages a 131 billion dollars worth of assets. CMG played an important role in China’s globalization efforts. China Investment Corporation (CIC) is a state fund, established in Beijing on 2007. It was founded for multinational public holdings to increase their investments abroad with an initial 200 billion dollars. The fund is currently worth 750 billion dollars. KUMPORT IS READY FOR LARGER VESSELS Kumport was put into service in 1994 for only general and break bulk cargo services. The container handling service began in 1996. The port transformed into a container terminal with Maersk and Turkon represented vessels docking frequently in 2002. First used in 2002, the terminal automation system began to be used in all handling and processes in 2005. In 2011, Kumport became the 3rd largest port and the 1st import container handling port in Turkey. Reaching to a total of 402 thousand square meters of terminal space, Kumport operates in 6 piers with 1,7 million TEU capacity. In parallel to the increasing capacity pier depths are increased to enable larger vessel docking. Kumport has 2 container docks that are 440 and 422 meters in length and 16,5 meters in depth. Cosco has ordered 13 container vessels totaling to a 20 thousand TEU capacity to be delivered in 2017 and 2018 which makes the Kumport deal understandable. Cosco has currently 167 container vessels.