Ankara: The Turkish owner of the Nusr-Et steakhouse, known by its founder chef’s meme Salt Bae, is in talks to sell a stake to Qatar’s $450 billion wealth fund, local media reported.
D.ream Group, owned by Turkish billionaire Ferit Sahenk’s Dogus Holding AS– the owner of the Salt Bae restaurant franchise: Nusr-Et steakhouse— is currently in talks to sell a 20 percent stake to the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) for about $300 million.
The price implies a company valuation of $1.5bn, Bloomberg reported.
Dogus confirmed that talks with QIA are underway, but did not provide details. QIA could not be reached in the first place.
The talks were reported by Turkey’s Sozcu newspaper earlier on Tuesday.
As per media reports, Dogus had previously signed similar sales agreements to fulfil the obligations of the refinancing agreement it signed with banks. The group made an agreement with the QIA for the sale of 30 percent of İstinye Park in 2020.
D.ream Group owns stakes in restaurants including Nusr-Et steakhouse, which was founded by Turkish butcher and salt sprinkler Nusret Gokce.
38-year-old Nusret Gokce, who became famous in 2017 after his technique for seasoning meat became an Internet meme.
Gokçe has a chain of luxury steak houses, with branches in Turkey, Greece, the United States, Britain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and possibly in Israel soon as well.
