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PORTFOLIO
Pegasus Airlines
Aviation
Ayakkabı Dünyası
Retail
MacFit
Health Club
Korozo
Packaging
Getir
Online Groceries
Libra Softworks
Gaming
Insider
SaaS
Appsilon Enterprise
Advanced Materials
OPLOG
E-Logistics
SELECT EXITS
Pegasus Airlines
Mars Cinema Group
Peyman
U.N. RoRo
INVESTMENT COMMITTEE
ALİ SABANCI
Chairperson Esas Holding

Ali Sabancı is the chairperson of Pegasus Airlines and vice chairperson of Mars Sportif which are part of the Esas Private Equity portfolio. He also serves on the board of Esas Properties.

Ali is one of the co-founders of Esas Social, which was established to facilitate sustainable social investment. He focuses on increasing awareness of entrepreneurship in Turkey. As the president of the Young Entrepreneurs Board in the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), he has led successful projects including Angel Investing Legislation, Global Entrepreneurship Congress, G3 Forum, Global Entrepreneurship Week and TIM Innovation Week - Born Global. He is also an angel investor in more than 25 start-up companies.

Ali is a member of the Turkish American Business Association and the Turkish Family Business Association. In 2018 he was awarded the Légion d'Honneur by the French government for his contributions to economic relations between Turkey and France.

Ali Sabancı earned his M.B.A. degree with a major in International Finance from Columbia Business School and B.A. degree in Politics and Economics from Tufts University.

H. ÇAĞATAY ÖZDOĞRU
Member of the Board & CEO Esas Holding

Çağatay Özdoğru oversees all of Esas’ business segments including real estate, private equity, venture capital and wealth management, and serves on their investment committees. He is a board member of Esas Properties and various private equity portfolio companies including Pegasus Airlines, Mars Athletic, Korozo and Ayakkabı Dünyası.

Çağatay joined Esas Holding in 2005 as an executive board member. He played a major role in establishing Esas Private Equity where he served as CEO since 2010, until transitioning to his current role in 2019. He led a number of Esas’ private equity investments and exits of various portfolio companies including UN Ro-Ro, Mars Cinema Group and Peyman.

Previously, Çağatay was the president of IT & Telecommunications Investments at Sabancı Holding. Prior to that, he held various positions at France Telecom Group, where he last served as the executive vice president of the REEMEA region. He was also a member of the Global Operating Committee.

In 2020, Çağatay was appointed as the chairman of Turkey - France Business Council at DEIK (Foreign Economic Relations Council) and Independent Board Member of Fenerbahçe Football A.S in 2021. Çağatay is also a member of the Board of Directors at Tüsiad, Turkish Business & Industry Association as of April 2022. Previously, he served as the chairman of Turkey - Sweden Business Council and Turkey - Croatia Business Council, and board member of TBV (Turkey IT Foundation) and TUBISAD (Turkey IT Industry Association).

Çağatay Özdoğru earned his M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from George Washington University, where he received the Hall of Fame Award for Alumni in 2016, and B.S. degree in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering from Istanbul Technical University.

CUMHUR KUŞÇUOĞLU
Managing Director & Head of Turkish Private Equity

Cumhur Kuşçuoğlu is a Senior Director and the Head of Turkish Private Equity and serves on the Private Equity Investment Committees.

Prior to joining Esas in 2009, Cumhur worked as a Director in the MENA Buyout Fund of the Carlyle Group. From 2002 to 2007, he was a Director at EY, supervising the M&A Advisory Services team in Turkey and Southeast Europe. Cumhur started his career in the Audit Department of Arthur Andersen where he worked for six years.

Mr. Kuşçuoğlu earned his B.A. degree in Economics from Boğaziçi University. 

Cumhur Kuşçuoğlu served on the boards of Mars Cinema Group and UN Ro-Ro until exit and sits on the boards of Mars Sportif, Ayakkabı Dünyası, Bonservis and OPLOG.

CAN DELDAĞ
Investment Committee Member

Can Deldağ is an Independent Investment Committee Member of Esas Turkish Private Equity.

In his career, Can worked as Managing Director and Co-Head for Mideast and North Africa Operations buyout team at The Carlyle Group. Prior to his joining Carlyle Group in 2007, Mr. Deldağ was a Partner at Ernst & Young, where he joined in 2002, following the merger of Ernst & Young and Andersen, as a Head of Transaction Advisory Services for Turkey and Head of M&A Services for Southeast Europe. Prior to this, he was leading the mergers and acquisitions Division in Andersen. He began his career with Arthur Andersen in 1989. 

Mr. Deldağ earned his B.A. degree in Management Engineering from Istanbul Technical University. 

GUY ZARZAVATDJIAN
Investment Committee Member

Guy Zarzavatdjian is an Independent Investment Committee Member of Esas Turkish Private Equity.

Mr. Zarzavatdjian serves as a Senior Partner at Quilvest Private Equity since 2018. Previously, he served as the Chief Executive Officer at the firm, since joining in July 1, 2014 until 2018. He focuses on the PE direct investment business. Mr. Zarzavatdjian joined 3i in 1987 until March 2013 where he held various positions in France, Benelux (he created the office in Amsterdam), and the United Kingdom as a member of the Management Board. During his time at the firm, he has been the Country Managing Director of France in the mid 2000s. Mr. Zarzavatdjian managed 3i France from 2002 to 2007, after having created and developed the activity of 3i in the Benelux countries at the end of the 1990.

He served as Executive Officer at Eli Lilly and Company and a family textile group. He has over 30 years of private equity experience across Europe, the USA and Emerging Markets. He has sourced and completed more than 50 private equity investments during his career in private equity.

Mr. Zarzavatdjian holds an M.B.A. from INSEAD (Business School) and a DEA in Finance from Paris Dauphine University.

TEAM
CUMHUR KUŞÇUOĞLU
Managing Director & Head of Turkish Private Equity

Cumhur Kuşçuoğlu is a Senior Director and the Head of Turkish Private Equity and serves on the Private Equity Investment Committees.

Prior to joining Esas in 2009, Cumhur worked as a Director in the MENA Buyout Fund of the Carlyle Group. From 2002 to 2007, he was a Director at EY, supervising the M&A Advisory Services team in Turkey and Southeast Europe. Cumhur started his career in the Audit Department of Arthur Andersen where he worked for six years.

Mr. Kuşçuoğlu earned his B.A. degree in Economics from Boğaziçi University. 

Cumhur Kuşçuoğlu served on the boards of Mars Cinema Group and UN Ro-Ro until exit and sits on the boards of Mars Sportif, Ayakkabı Dünyası, Bonservis and OPLOG.

SEÇKİN TABAK
Senior Investment Director

Seçkin Tabak is a Senior Director in the Turkish Private Equity team. Since joining Esas, Mr. Tabak has been involved in various Esas investments including Getir, Insider, Appsilon Enterprise and OPLOG. He currently serves on the boards of Appsilon Enterprise and OPLOG and is a board observer of Insider.

Prior to joining Esas, Mr. Tabak was a Director at Actera Group, an Istanbul-based private equity firm, where he served on the deal teams of Mars Cinema Group (exited), g2m (exited), Mey İçki (exited), Gratis, Çelebi and Mars Sportif. Mr. Tabak started his career at EY in the mergers and acquisitions department.

Mr. Tabak received his B.A. degree in Business Administration from Boğaziçi University.

ŞAHBEY TEKE
Senior Investment Director

Şahbey Teke is a Senior Director in the Turkish Private Equity team.

Since joining Esas as an Investment Analyst in 2007, Şahbey has focused on real estate and private equity investments in Turkey and internationally including Air Lease Corp, Peyman, Ayakkabı Dünyası, Fuyao Glass, JAB and Mars Cinema. 

Mr. Teke received both his B.S. degree in Mechatronics and MBA degrees from Sabancı University. 

Şahbey Teke served on the deal teams of Peyman and Mars Cinema until exit; sits on the board of Mars Sportif and is a steering committee member at Libra Softworks.

EMİN TUKSAL
Vice President

Emin is a Vice President in the Turkish Private Equity team.

Prior to joining Esas in 2021, Emin worked at Koç Holding as Business Development Manager where he focused on M&A projects. Emin previously worked as an investment banker at Credit Suisse, Unlu & Co. and Mediobanca.

Emin Tuksal received his B.Sc. degree in Mathematics from Boğaziçi University and his Master's degree in Corporate Finance from SDA Bocconi School of Management.

Emin served on the deal teams of Libra Softworks, Insider and Appsilon Enterprise and is a steering committee member at Libra Softworks and Appsilon Enterprise.

BARIŞ USLU
Associate

Barış is an Associate in the Turkish Private Equity team.

Prior to joining Esas in 2021, Barış worked at Alpacar Associates as an Analyst where he focused on M&A projects.

Barış received his MEng degree in Engineering Science from the University of Oxford.

Barış served on the deal team of OPLOG and is a board observer.