Sapro Receives EUR 3 Million EBRD Loan to Finance Wet Wipes Expansion

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has extended a EUR 3 million loan to Sapro, a Turkey-based wet wipes producer. Founded by Ceyhun Zincirkıran and Mehmet Gündoğdu in 1997, Sapro has since become Turkey’s largest wet wipes producer by capacity. Some 75% of Sapro’s sales are in the European markets, primarily as private label products to large European retail chains. In Turkey, Sapro produces wet wipes under the brand name Hops. 

The EBRD’s loan will finance part of the working capital required to start Sapro’s own production of the main raw material for wet wipes--non-woven tissue or spunlace, which accounts for more than half the cost of the final product. Sapro was previously buying spunlace from suppliers and as part of its growth strategy wants to bring more of its production in-house. Doing so will help significantly cut costs and increase the company’s competitiveness and resilience domestically and abroad.