That's right, this is the latest news about a very significant event. Scheduled for November 23 and 24 at the Hyatt Regency in Istanbul, Private Equity International and EMPEA are coordinating a Turkey Forum with the main sponsors being Turkven, the Actera Group and Abraaj Capital. Endeavor is also supporting the event. I know Golden Horn Ventures tried to do something like this a year ago, and it proved a valuable spearhead to get this type of conference moving in Turkey. While the event does not seem to be significant for venture capital or entrepreneurs seeking investment, it is good to see Turkey's prominent PE executives getting together to hash this one out. The agenda looks interesting, especially the panels that will discuss the great potential that the emerging market of Turkey will have for LPs and GPs. In addition take a look at this list of conference speakers:
Sarah Alexander, President, EMPEA
Achmed Al-Shahrabani, Senior Vice President, Abraaj Capital
Uğur Bayar, Managing Director & CEO, Credit Suisse Turkey
Mete Çakmakcı, TTGV
Murat Çavuşoğlu, Managing Partner, Actera Group
Can Deldag, Managing Director, The Carlyle Group
Serkan Elden, Managing Director, AIG Capital Partners
Saki Georgiadis, Investment Director, Gartmore Private Equity
Tolga Işmen, Lawyer, Ismen
Salim Kadıbeşegil, Chief Executive Officer, ORSA Strategic Communications Consultancy
David Nieuwendijk, Senior Investment Officer Private Equity, FMO
Murat Özgen, Chief Executive Officer, İş Private Equity
Carlos Perry, Chief Operating Officer, EMPEA
Jose Romano, Head of Turkey & Istabul Venture Capital Initiative, European Investment Fund
Nikos Stathopoulos, Managing Partner, BC Partners
Seymur Tari, Managing Director, Turkven
Selcuk Yorgancioglu, Executive Director & Turkey Country Head, Abraaj Capital
Birol Yücel, Managing Director, Turkven
For most of you who have followed Grandstanding Traction over the last few years, I think you can see the significance right away about what this conference means for Turkey and the growth of private equity. What I wouldn't give to be a potential GP with a private placement memo ready to go for this event. So for all those interested in putting together a fund, dust off your elevator pitch. Registration for the PEI Turkey Forum will cost you a pretty penny.
The question will remain, "Will those types of high net-worth individuals from Turkey come out for this event?" I encourage all who are interested in making investments in Turkey to attend this event. Private equity is cyclical, and Turkey has some thriving industries yearning for investment since the recent downturn. The website specifically states that all types of institutional investors will be given complementary tickets, so we can already see the potential waiting for GPs at this event. All the relavant players will be there - so should you.
Labels: Abraaj Capital, Actera, Conferences, Endeavor, Turkven
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Publisher: Jon H. Black
