| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Textile, energy, construction, finance, media and telecom |
| Founded | 1997 Istanbul, Turkey |
| Founder(s) | Ahmet Çalık |
| Headquarters | Istanbul, Turkey |
| Key people | Ahmet Çalık |
| Website | www.calik.com |
Çalık Holding A.Ş is a Turkish conglomerate based in Istanbul, active in the sectors of textiles, energy, construction, finance, logistics and media. Through its ventures in and outside of Turkey, Çalık employs a total of 19,000 people (December 2008).[1] The CEO of Çalık Holding, Berat Albayrak. Albayrak is the son-in-law of Turkey's Prime Minister Erdoğan [2]. Albayrak has been with the company since 1999.[3]
The leading companies of the group are GAP Güneydoğu Tekstil, Çalık Enerji, GAP İnşaat, Çalıkbank, and GAP Pazarlama.
Since 2008 it also owns the newspaper Sabah and TV station ATV, which it acquired for $1.1bn. The sale aroused substantial controversy in Turkey, not least because it was partially financed by $750m of loans from two state banks, VakıfBank and Halkbank,[4] and was sold for the minimum price, with Çalık the sole bidder.[5] A Turkish law limiting foreign ownership to 25% of media assets is believed to have contributed.[5] In January 2009 the acquisition of Sabah-ATV contributed to ratings agency Fitch's downgrade of Çalık's credit rating.[6]
The Çalık family entered the textile industry around 1930. In 1980 the family founded Ortadoğu Tekstil Tic. ve San A.Ş, which was to be the basis for the present-day Çalık conglomerate.[7] Çalık Holding was founded in 1997 by Ahmet Çalık, who remains the Chairman.[8]