Danone on Sirma bottled water buy: 'Turkey is a strategic region'

The French multinational said that Turkey''s bottled water market was No.11 in the world in volume terms, and grew by 20% in value in 2012.

With reported sales of nearly  €100m, Sirma is active in plain and flavored bottled waters, and in the Home & Office Delivery space; Danone expects the transaction to complete before the end of 2013, subject to approval from regulatory authorities.

Danone is already present in Turkey's water market with Hayat, and the French firm said it would benefit from the two companies' complementarity in terms of brand positioning, geographical presence and distribution channels.

"Turkey is a strategic country for our division and we are excited at the prospect of joining forces with Sirma, whose founders and teams have done a tremendous job developing the water category in Turkey,"​ said Francisco Camacho, executive VP of Danone’s Waters division.

"We are convinced that this transaction will accelerate Sirma's expansion in Turkey,"​ added Davut Disli, Sirma chairman.