The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting a dynamic logistics company, Akel Lojistik, with a loan of 13 million Turkish lira (€4.4 million equivalent).
The company, which provides transportation services throughout Turkey to leading corporate clients primarily in food and beverage and related sectors, will use the proceeds to establish two new warehouses – one near Izmir and one near Antalya, - and also for balance sheet restructuring and working capital needs.
Akel distributes food and non-food merchandise from client warehouses (or other pick-up points) to clients’ store networks. Established in 1999, Akel works with leading Turkish and international companies.
The EBRD’s Strategy for Turkey emphasises the importance of a longer term funding to the micro, small and medium sized (MSMEs) enterprise sector.
The loan has been made under the EBRD’s Local Enterprise Facility (LEF). LEF is a €400 million proprietary vehicle for investments in SMEs in the Balkans, Turkey and the SEMED region. It benefits from donor support from Italy, the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund and the SEMED Multi-Donor Account. It provides debt, equity and quasi-equity.
