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İşbank Defends $171.5 Million Sale of Iconic Şişecam Land Amid Underpricing Claims

sise cam beykoz
ISTANBUL, February 27, 2026 — Türkiye İş Bankası has hit back at critics who claim that its subsidiary, Şişecam, undersold a prime 117,000-square-meter land parcel in Istanbul’s Beykoz district. The bank’s General Manager,

Hakan Aran

, described the $171.5 million (approx. ₺7.5 billion) transaction as a “highly rational” strategic move that prioritized immediate liquidity over speculative long-term gains.

The Transaction

Following a competitive bidding process, the sprawling waterfront property—the site of a former glass factory that ceased operations in 2002—was sold to Çelikler Taahhüt İnşaat ve Sanayi A.Ş.. The deal, finalized on February 26, 2026, involved 11 separate plots in the İncirköy neighborhood.
While the sale injected significant cash into Şişecam’s balance sheet, it resulted in a technical accounting loss of approximately ₺2.3 billion due to the asset’s high carrying value on the books.

“Desk-Based” Speculation

  • The Buyer (Çelikler Holding): The primary focus of the “politically motivated” claims centers on the buyer, Çelikler Taahhüt İnşaat. Some opposition-leaning commentators and social media accounts have questioned the sale, framing it within the context of a “new five-family gang” (yeni beşli çete) narrative—a term often used by the opposition to describe companies that allegedly receive preferential treatment in large public-linked deals.
  • Critics and some opposition-leaning social media figures have argued the land was sold “on the cheap,” suggesting its Bosphorus-adjacent location could command upwards of $1 billion. 
Hakan Aran   dismissed these figures as unrealistic “desk-based” calculations that ignore current legal realities.
“If the land were rezoned for housing or commercial use today, its value could indeed soar to $1 billion,” Aran noted. “However, it is currently classified as industrial/investment property. Waiting for rezoning could take a decade of legal battles. We chose the rational path: immediate cash to fund our core industrial growth”.

Strategic Rationale

İşbank and Şişecam management outlined several reasons for the immediate disposal:
  • Strengthening Liquidity: The $171.5 million upfront payment eliminates deferred payment risk and helps manage Şişecam’s existing debt load.
  • Focus on Core Growth: Proceeds are earmarked for Şişecam’s global “green production” initiatives and new manufacturing lines in Italy, Bulgaria, and Turkey.
  • Risk Mitigation: By selling the atıl (idle) asset to a developer, the company avoids the operational and financial risks associated with the volatile construction sector.
The sale marks a significant step in Şişecam’s 2026 strategy to streamline its portfolio by offloading non-operational real estate assets.
Sise Cam Ciner Holding connection and ransom question
The sale has faced intense scrutiny from opposition-leaning circles, where critics argue the land was sold “on the cheap” to a firm with close ties to the current administration. Beyond the price, the timing of the deal has raised eyebrows due to an ongoing money laundering and fraud investigation that has recently expanded to include former and current high-level glass industry executives.
  • Investigation into Former Leadership: In late 2025, former Şişecam Chairman 
    Ahmet Kırman

     was questioned by prosecutors and slapped with a travel ban. The probe centers on his past business ties and the established joint ventures between Şişecam and Ciner Holding.

  • The Ciner Connection: The investigation originates from the 2024 sale of Ciner Media Group to Can Holding, which prosecutors suspect was used to launder nearly $800 million in illicit funds.
  • Executive Arrests: The probe has already led to the arrest of 
    Atilla Ciner  (son of Ciner Holding owner Turgay Ciner) and
    Gökhan Şen , the CEO of Ciner Glass. Critics suggest the rapid offloading of atıl (idle) assets like the Beykoz land may be an attempt by Şişecam to distance its current management from the legal turmoil surrounding its former partners.

Two weeks before the sale, the arrest warrant for the owner of Ciner Holding, Mr Turgay Ciner was rescinded, allowing him to return home from UK.  To add context, Erdogan has long been interersted in “nationalizing” İsBank, the parent of  Sise Cam Group, to run as a state bank and direct loans to “preferential custoemrs”.  He contemplated passing legislation to take over IsBank shares owned by manin opposition party CHP, inherited from Ataturk. The CHP members of the board don’t vote and the dividend goes to Turkish Linguistics Institute.

PA Turkey leaves it up to the reader whether the sale was a ransom to Erdogan to leave sise Cam and IsBank alone.

 

Commentary by Atilla Yesilada

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