Istanbul has become a real estate favorite for Europe. According to a study conducted with 600 expert administrators by ULI and PwC, Istanbul has left the likes on Rome, London and Paris in its wake and will soon become Europe’s shining star.
LEADER IN THREE CATEGORIES
Istanbul earned the highest points in the "current investments", "new investments" and "development" category. In the current investments category, Istanbul received 3.83 points out of five, in the new investments category, Istanbul received 3.82 points and in the development category 4.03 points. The cities that followed Istanbul were in subsequent order; Munich, Warsaw, Berlin and Stockholm. While Paris took the sixth spot on the list, London came in tenth and Madrid dropped all the way to 21st. Athens, considered the European capital of the economic crisis, anchored in last place with a 1.6 point average.
RECIPROCITY WILL ONLY MAKE THE STAR SHINE BRIGHTER
In the report, Istanbul stood out for its strongest assets, described as being the increase in consumer spending and the investments made by large global firms. While 69% of the 600 company administrators questioned had positive projections, they also expressed that profitability is on the rise. With the reciprocity law anticipated to eradicate obstacles to foreigners buying property, Istanbul's star is set to shine even brighter in Europe.
HEARING SOUNDS OF GROWTH, AMPLIFON COMES TO TURKEY
One global giant that heard wind of the fast growth in Turkey's economy, entered the country with a purchase. One of the world's largest hearing aid companies Italy's Amplifon, has purchased the Istanbul based Maxtone. With 3,000 stores in 19 countries and ten thousand employees, Amplifon CEO Franco Moscetti states that Turkey has drawn global attention due to its fast growth and strong infrastructure and therefore they entered the country with an acquisition. Noting that the hearing aid market in Turkey has seem growth multiplied by four when considering they went from 25,000 items sold in 2002 to 100,000 in 2010, Moscetti states that by purchasing 51% of Maxtone they have now become the majority owners.
100 STORES TO BE OPENED
Founded in 2007 Maxtone opened their first store in Istanbul in 2009, according to founder and CEO Ersin Oray, within a two-year period they reached a total of eight stores in Ankara and Izmir and in the upcoming days branches in Bursa and Adana will be going into operation. Mentioning that the fact that the Maxtone-Amplifon collaboration is transpiring with an Italian company is incredibly significant, Oray states, "In the medium term, the number of branches will increase to 100. In a meeting held with Italian company administrators, we made plans to realize a number of acquisitions."
BNY MELLON ALSO A PARTNER
Amplifon, which closed out last year with one billion Euros in sales, has a number of significant partners including Italy's famous investment firm Tamburi Investments. Another establishment well known in the financial market that is behind Amplifon is none other than the United States' The Bank of New York Mellon's investment company Newton Investment. With 48,000 employees and one trillion dollars worth of assets, BNY Mellon is Amplifon's third largest partner. With no prior investments in Turkey, BNY Mellon has hereby made its first entrance into Turkey in the hearing aid market.
212 CAPİTAL PARTNERS KICKED OFF 2012 IN FULL GEAR
Investment fund 212 Capital Partners made a fast entrance into 2012 and has already doubled investments since the start of the year. Capital Partners has now become a partner with Balerin.com, an online cosmetics retailer in Turkey. Founded in December of 2011, 212 Capital Partners conducted their first investment last week with Butigo.com. They are drawing attention due to being the largest investment fund to provide early term entrance capital funds for Turkey's internet and technology firms.