Mavi Jeans, which has been the leading brand of Turkey since its establishment in 1991, expanded overseas in 1996. Serving its clients at about 5000 points with 326 stores in 50 countries including the USA, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and Russia, Mavi Jeans mobilized the textile market with the news that it will transfer the shares of Turkven, one of the partners of MAvi Jeans. Kuwaiti retail giant Alshaya and London-based capital funding Bridgepoint want to buy the shares of Turkven which is partner to Mavi Jeans with a share of 35 %.
According to the surveys, Mavi stands out among the best brands not only in Turkey but also in foreign countries. In 2006, Time Magazine included Mavi in the list of the most successful 16 Jeans brands around the world. In 2004, the readers of the Journal of the American Cosmogirl selected Mavi as ''The Most Sexy Jeans''. It was expressed that Mavi Jeans was among ''the most popular jeans stores'' according to the research “Best of Vancouver 2009” of Georgia Straight which is Canada's best-selling weekly newspaper. In the market research about the jeans sector conducted by the world famous magazine Sportswear, Mavi was chosen the best jeans brand, the friendliest brand and the best partner in Germany.
Turkven, which holds 35 per cent of the shares of Mavi, is known with its large investment. Turkven, which invested $ 4.5 billion for 17 companies, also invests in such companies as Migros, Ziylan, Tekin Acar, Golf, Doğtaş, Domino’s Pizza, UNO, Intercity and Pronet. General Manager of Turkven, Seymur Sarı expressed that the decision to withdraw from Mavi Jeans is a completely strategic operation and they will invest in the other firms of the Turkish textile industry with the money gained from the sale.
Alshaya Wants To Expand Its Brand Portfolio
Kuwait-based Alshaya Group entered in the Turkish market in 2002 and now wants to buy the shares of Mavi which has remained popular with such campaigns as “We are going too far, We have progressed too much, Please yourself and Here is Istanbul.”
Alshaya Group carries out retail operations of international brands that it represents in the fields of beauty-care, food retailing and fashion-garment as well. Among the brands that the Alshaya Group represents, there are such brands as Bath and Body Works, Claire’s, Coast, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Topshop, Topman, Le Pain Quotidien, Pinkberry, Shake Shack, Starbucks Coffee, The Body Shop, Victoria’s Secret, Victoria’s Secret Beauty and Accessories and Warehouse. The Group wants expand its brand portfolio in Turkey.
Another application from the British
Another applicant which interests in shares of Mavi is the British fund Bridgepoint. During 25 years of its experience, Bridgepoint, a London based equity funding which has offices in Istanbul, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Madrid, Warsaw and Helsinki, invested 12 billion Euros in companies having growth potential. The company, which manages at present its 4th fund BEIV with an amount of 5 billion Euros, has invested in such fields as business, finance, health, industry, media and technology. In Turkey, the company is known with the acquisition of 33 % of TÜVTÜRK's shares.
