The financial woes of Dogus Holding AS are only getting worse even as the Turkish owner of the Salt Bae steakhouse chain goes on a selling spree to help restructure debt.

The Istanbul-based investment-holding group, controlled by Turkish billionaire Ferit Sahenk, has been disposing mainly of hotels over the past year as part of a December agreement with lenders to renegotiate the terms on US$2.5 billion of debt. The pact doesn’t cover half of Dogus’ liabilities, which soared 17 per cent in 2018 to 28.6 billion liras (US$5.2 billion), according to financial statements published on its website. Almost half of those are loans due this year.

Like many other Turkish companies, the owner of the Nusr-Et steakhouse, popularly known by its founder chef’s meme Salt Bae, is struggling to repay foreign-exchange loans after the lira plunged in value. The firm also has interests spanning marina and entertainment businesses.

Dogus has pledged 23.4 billion liras of assets as collateral against its liabilities as of end-2018, compared with 19.6 billion liras a year earlier. The group’s loss widened to 2.9 billion liras from 2.3 billion liras in 2017. Dogus also said its hydropower plant unit, Boyabat, defaulted on its debt on Dec. 31, and that restructuring talks for its US$900 million loan is expected to be completed this year.

Trophy Assets

Sahenk, once the country’s richest man, spent heavily on hospitality businesses at home and overseas after selling his 31 percent stake in Turkiye Garanti Bankasi AS for almost US$5.5 billion. His company has been seeking buyers for its trophy hotels for several months, having sold businesses in Miami, Turkey and Spain.

The group sold Park Hyatt hotel in Istanbul to Nusret Turizm Yatirim AS, owned by the founder of Nusr-Et, according to a filing by Ankara-based antitrust board. It also sold its 50 per cent holding in Athens Hilton to its partner Tourism Enterprises of Messinia SA.