UK-based private equity fund BC Partners on January 26 sold its 11.77% stake in Istanbul-listed retailer Migros (MGROS) for Turkish lira (TRY) 44.15 per share, making for a sale transaction of TRY941mn ($128mn) for 21.3mn shares, BC unit Kenan said on January 26 in a stock exchange filing.

Also on January 26, Goldman Sachs said in a filing that on January 19 it bought  6.19% in Migros for TRY44.22 per share, or TRY496mn for 11.2mn shares.

Goldman’s stake in Migros has thus risen to 6.58% from 0.38%. The company had to inform public disclosure platform KAP of the purchase because it took its stake beyond the 5% threshold.

Goldman also noted that it bought shares on behalf of clients, meaning its stake woud soon fall below 5%.

On January 20, the Migros share price jumped after Kenan announced its upcoming transaction.

Migros is popular among foreign investors but the company has faced losses and carries significant debt. Its net FX deficit declined to TRY505mn at end-September from TRY2.16bn at end-2019.

Foreign market players’ holdings in the Migros free-float, by Ak Invest.

Migros will release its Q4 financials on March 1.

The company has TRY1bn of outstanding domestic bonds that mature in July.

Migros, established in 1954 by the Swiss Migros Cooperatives Union and Istanbul Municipality, was sold to Koc Holding in 1975.

Koc sold the company to Japan’s Moonlight Capital in 2008 and Anadolu Group took control of it in 2015.

On January 7, Migros signed an agreement with Carrefoursa (CRFSA) to take over the tenancy rights and lease agreements on 34 Carrefoursa stores.

In 2020, Migros opened 183 stores, beating its target of 160. Migros as of end-2020 had 2,289 stores in Turkey alone. The company also had two Ramstores in Kazakhstan and 28 Ramstores in North Macedonia.

Migros is active on the online grocery delivery market with Migros Sanal Market.

Based on 2017 revenues, BIM (BIMAS) was the 150th largest retailer in the world, while Migros was the 225th and A101 the 237th.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund had a 1.33% stake in Migros at end-2019.

On November 19, London-listed asset manager Ninety One said it had increased its stake in Migros to 5.03%.

Turkish conglomerate AG Anadolu Group Holding (AGHOL) controls Migros.

A total of 39% of Migros is on free-float on the Borsa Istanbul.