Çalık Holding is a Turkish company that has been operating in the energy, construction, mining, textile, and finance sectors since the 1980s. Founder and chairman
Ahmet Çalık began his business career in the textile industry, founding Orta Doğu Tekstil in 1981 and Çalık Denim in 1987. During the early-1990s independence of
CIS countries, he made his first foreign investments and founded Gap Pazarlama (to increase his company's share of international textile trading) and Gap İnşaat (to build plants). These companies were brought together as Çalık Holding in 1997. The umbrella company founded Çalık Enerji in 1998 and Aktif Bank in 1999, to enter the energy and finance sectors.
Growing by investments since the 2000s, Çalık Holding acquired
Banka Kombëtare Tregtare
Banka Kombëtare Tregtare (BKT) is the largest and oldest operating commercial bank in Albania, tracing its roots to the creation of the National Bank of Albania in 1925. In 2021, it had a market share of 26.11%.
Establishment
In the early 19 ...
(operating in
Albania
Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...
and
Kosovo
Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
). The group acquired
ALBtelecom (Albania's oldest
landline operator and Internet provider) in 2007, entering the telecom sector.
Çalık Holding entered the mining sector in a partnership with Canadian-based Anatolia Minerals, a member of the
Toronto Stock Exchange
The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX; ) is a stock exchange located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the List of stock exchanges, 10th largest exchange in the world and the third largest in North America based on market capitalization. Based in th ...
. It founded Çalık Cotton in 2011, aiming to be among the top 10 global companies in the cotton trade.
After participating in the privatization of the electricity-distribution sector, Çalık Holding provided electricity to seven million customers (according to 2015 data). The company acquired YEDAŞ in 2010, Kosovo Electricity Distribution Company (KEDS, in association with Limak Holding) in 2012, and ARAS EDAŞ (in association with Kiler Holding) in 2013.
Subsidiary Çalık Enerji was included in ''
ENR'' annual list of top 250 international contractors. The company turned its 20-year business relationship with the
Mitsubishi
The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries.
Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...
Corporation into a partnership in 2015, when Mitsubishi acquired 4.5 percent of Çalik Enerji. Çalık Holding employs over 28,000 people in 17 countries, and its assets are valued at US$7.6 billion.
Sectors
Textiles
Çalık's background is in textiles, with the family's involvement in the sector dating to the 1930s. The first company, Ortadoğu Tekstil, was founded by Ahmet Çalık in 1981; Gap Güneydoğu Tekstil was founded to manufacture denim in 1987. In 1997, a factory was established in
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...
.
[Çalık]
Milestones
Energy
*Çalık Enerji
*Yeşilırmak Electricity Distribution Company (YEDAS)
*Kosovo Energy Distribution Services (KEDS)
*Aras Edaş
In 2012, Çalık Holding completed construction of a new power plant in Iraq. It and another plant (under construction) will supply 2,000 MW and a potential capacity of 4,500 MW.
Construction
*Gap İnşaat
Mining
*Lidya Madencilik
*Polimetal Madencilik
Finance
Çalıkbank was founded in 1999, and was renamed Aktif Yatırım Bankası in 2008.
[ Sixty percent of Albania's Banka Kombetare Tregtare was acquired in 2006, and the remainder in 2009.][ Other financial holdings are BKT. and Aktif Bank. The latter has come under scrutiny for potential money-laundering and other financial crimes.
]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calik Holding
1997 establishments in Turkey
Beşiktaş
Conglomerate companies of Turkey
Holding companies established in 1997
Holding companies of Turkey
Newspaper companies of Turkey