US private equity firm Universe Capital Partners has bought a 29 per cent stake in fruit juice and soft drink maker Frigo Pak.

As a result of the deal, Universe will invest TRY10m (€4.5m) this year, which will enable the company to build facilities to target new markets. Turkish consumer companies are rapidly expanding, but the market is still dominated by a large number of family-owned SMEs. There are only 22 food and drink groups on the Istanbul stock exchange.

Turkish investors told Real Deals earlier this year that consumer investments are more attractive than B2B deals as a result of poor cash collection times in many industries. The country’s demographics – a young population with increasing earning power – also makes consumer deals attractive.  

“We managed 59 per cent growth last year and 50 per cent during the first half of this year and we couldn’t see ourselves improving on that in the current climate,” Haydar Guclu, founder and chairman of Frigo Pak, told the Financial Times. Around 85 per cent of the company's sales come from overseas markets.