#ecomax #sasa #polyester If you ask who founded SASA, which created agenda with the value of its shares... The company's story dates back to 1966. SASA Polyester was founded by Özdemir Sabancı, the younger brother of the late Sakıp Sabancı, one of the most colorful figures of the Turkish business world. Although Özdemir Sabancı told his father Hacı Sabancı that he decided to establish a polyester factory, Hacı Sabancı did not favor this idea. The late Hacı Sabancı was of the opinion that polyester would be of no use since Adana was a cotton production center. Özdemir Sabancı, on the other hand, thought that polyester would replace cotton and he was right. It remained under Sabancı's ownership for many years. The company established a joint-venture partnership with the world chemical giant Dupont in 2000 and took the name DupontSA. When Sabancı Holding purchased the Dupont shares in 2004, the name DupontSA was changed to Advansa. The name of the group's Turkey organization was Advansa Sasa Polyester A.Ş. In 2011, Sabancı Holding purchased all shares of Advansa BV. and changed its name from Advansa SASA to SASA in September 2011. Sasa’s production facilities in Turkey were located in two different regions in Adana. However, it was sold off as Sabancı Group focused on different business lines as part of its focus strategy. The sale process of SASA was quite controversial. Turkish textile industrialists opposed the sale. Because local and national SASA would end up in foreign hands. In 2015, when sales negotiations were held to Indian Indorama, calls from the Turkish textile sector to “keep SASA national” increased. İsmail Gülle, the Chairman of the Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters’ Association at the time, expressed his objection to the sale harshly by saying, “Even the Köfte brand is being sold at a higher price. We are also against this sale and will take the issue to the Competition Authority.” After the resistance of the sector, Sabancı gave up on selling SASA, at least to foreigners. SASA, which was going to go to the Indians for 62 million dollars, remained Turkish after Sabancı was convinced. The lucky name who acquired this company, which would create billionaires in the following years, was Erdemoğlu. Erdemoğlu Holding, the producer of carpets such as Merinos, Dinarsu, Padişah and Efsane, paid almost twice the amount offered by the Indian company for 51 percent of Sasa. Erdemoğlu later increased its share to 84.8 percent under the mandatory share purchase agreement. The current value of SASA, which Erdemoğlu bought for 102 million dollars at that time, is 6.5 billion dollars. SASA increased its share value sixfold with the momentum it gained on the stock exchange after the second half of 2022. SASA shares showed a volatile performance throughout 2023. Although the shares, which started to decline in the fall of 2023, are 40 percent behind their peak levels, they are currently three times more valuable than the point they started to rise. SASA's main shareholder, Erdemoğlu Holding's Chairman of the Board of Directors, İbrahim Erdemoğlu, topped the 2023 Forbes billionaires list with a fortune of $5.3 billion. Erdemoğlu Holding's Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Ali Erdemoğlu, also took third place on the list. In the 2024 list, İbrahim Erdemoğlu's fortune fell to $2.8 billion due to the decline in the company's share values, and he fell to fifth place. Ali Erdemoğlu also fell to eighth place on the billionaires list.