Eren Holding is a conglomerate headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey. It has business interests in paper, packaging, cement, energy, retail, textile, and tourism. The company was established in 1997 although history of the group dates back to 1969. Eren Holding's chairman and CEO is Ahmet Eren. The group employs 8,500 employees. Due to its cement factory, coal-fired power stations in Turkey and coal-fired steam boiler it is one of the largest private sector greenhouse gas emitters in Turkey.
History
Eren was established by four brothers from Bitlis. In 1969, Er-os Çamaşırları A.Ş., a underwear manufacturer and trademark was established. In 1998, Eren Holding entered the energy sector with Modern Enerji Elektrik Üretim Otoprodüktör Grubu A.Ş. In 2003 the Rixos HotelBodrum was put into service in Bodrum, Turkey, marking the company's entry into the tourism industry. In 2007, Eren Enerji started construction of a 1360 MW coal-fired power plant in Zonguldak, which was completed in 2010. In 2012, Eren Perakende created the multi-brand shoe concept SuperStep stores and multi-brand kids store chain SuperKids. In 2014, a 6 MW biomass power plant started operating. In 2015, Modern Enerji established the first solid waste incineration facility in Turkey. Also in 2015, Modern Karton completed construction of a new paper factory. In 2019, Eren Enerji Elektrik Üretim A.Ş received a silver award at the industry and energy category of the Green World Awards. That was criticized by environmental organizations as greenwashing.
Operations
Eren Holding controls businesses across several sectors, including energy, paper, cement, retail, ports, packaging, textile, and tourism. It owns ports in Zonguldak and Mersin. Its subsidiaries Eren Kağıt and Modern Karton collect waste paper and recycle it into corrugated fiberboard. Eren owns Turkey's biggest cement factory—Medcem Çimento—in Mersin. As local demand collapsed in 2019, the factory concentrates on exports. ErenTekstil A.Ş. manufactures cotton textiles. Eren Perakende represent a number of international brands in Turkey, including Lacoste. Eren Holding's subsidiary Eren Enerji owns the coal-fired ZETES power stations. Another energy subsidiary, Modern Enerji, owns a solid waste incineration facility and natural gas-fired and biomass-fired power plants in Çorlu. Eren develops tourism projects in Istanbul and Bodrum.
As the largest private sector owner of coal-fired electricity generating capacity the company is on the Global Coal Exit List and is likely also the largest private sector greenhouse gas emitter in the country: however although corporate emissions measurements are reported to the government they are not published.
