Zapsu and Balsu: were the shares sold to funds bought back?

The record

Social-media posts alleged that Zapsu made these purchases to prevent the fund investigation from reaching him. No document supports that allegation. Nor has an investigation, charge or measure against Zapsu, BG Holding or Balsu been publicly announced. The Ledgers is putting the outstanding questions to Zapsu and the relevant institutions; responses will be published when received.

What the post claims, what the records show

The allegation circulated in the early hours of 30 September from the X account @rusenpress (post). It claimed Zapsu sold Balsu shares “to a fund at TRY 12–13” and bought them back “at TRY 6–7”, to prevent investigations from spreading to him. The Ledgers compared each claim with KAP disclosures and company reports.

30 June: a block sale at the top of the permitted range

BG Holding applied to Borsa İstanbul on 26 June and disclosed its intention to sell 358 million shares, 32.19% of the capital, through a wholesale transaction. The sale took place on 30 June at TRY 18.42 a share, for approximately TRY 6.59 billion. BG Holding’s stake consequently fell from 73.13% to 40.93%, according to The Ledgers’ calculation.

The buyers had been identified in advance: the disclosure’s annexed buyer list named the investors. The buying brokers were İnfo, Ak, HSBC, Marbaş, OYAK and Tera Yatırım. Pusula’s PBR and PHE funds bought 222 million shares at TRY 18.42, approximately TRY 4.09 billion, taking their combined holding from zero to 19.96% in one day. Four Hedef funds bought 52 million shares that day, increasing their holding from 6.98% to 11.65%.

Wholesale prices are not unrestricted. Borsa İstanbul’s procedure requires a price within 20% above or below a base calculated from the weighted average prices of the preceding ten trading days. The disclosed range was TRY 12.28–18.42; the sale took place at its ceiling.

In the four sessions immediately before the application, 22–25 June, the stock rose by approximately 10% each day, from TRY 14.04 to TRY 20.52. Daily trading volume jumped from 6 million to 131 million shares. Over the preceding two weeks the price had ranged from TRY 13.3 to TRY 14.3. Those four sessions fell within the ten-day calculation period and therefore also raised the permitted sale-price ceiling. Public records do not identify the buyers in those sessions.

In his statement on 20 September, Zapsu said TRY 18.42 did not reflect the company’s “long-term potential and economic value”. According to the company, TRY 4.64 billion of the proceeds was transferred to Balsu that day as an interest-free capital advance. A private-placement capital increase awaiting SPK approval would turn that advance into new shares for BG Holding. We found no explanation of how the remaining approximately TRY 1.95 billion was used.

Down to one third in 80 days

The shares hit their daily upper limit in each of the four sessions before the block sale; 80 days after the sale they fell to TRY 6.26. Every October purchase took place at less than half the block-sale price.

The funds did not hold the shares for long. On 6 August Hedef funds sold 42.7 million shares and bought 5 million, reducing their holding from 10.88% to 7.49%. On 10 August Pusula funds sold 249 million shares and bought 153.6 million. Sales took place at TRY 11.90–13.92, and Pusula’s stake fell from 19.24% to 10.66%. Sales on 14 August were at TRY 10.92–11.14.

On 17 September SPK ordered the liquidation of funds managed by seven portfolio companies, including Tera, Pusula and Hedef. The same bulletin imposed two-year trading bans on Pusula Portföy and its chairman Muhammed Yarız for transactions in other companies’ shares. Balsu hit its lower limit the next day and closed at TRY 6.26. On 22 September four senior executives from the Tera group and one from Pusula were remanded in custody.

In his public statement on 20 September, Zapsu attributed approximately six weeks of falling prices to fund movements and sales outside the company’s control. He said the main shareholder sold shares to ease the company’s financing needs. He added that SPK had instructed the company not to announce a buyback programme while the capital increase was under examination; a “meaningful buyback” would be considered afterward.

Purchases since 24 September

Three months after the sale, the direction changed. Since 24 September BG Holding has reported purchases to KAP almost daily; Zapsu also made two personal purchases.

Sources: KAP disclosures reported by DHA, Gaste24, TipRanks and Borsa Gündem on 22 and 27 October. The Ledgers calculated subtotals from disclosed ownership percentages.

BG Holding’s stake reached 48.76% on 21 October; Zapsu’s personal holding stood at 6.70% as of 26 October. The summaries do not identify the seller in Zapsu’s latest purchase. If the shares came from third parties, the Zapsu side’s combined holding would have reached about 55.5%, with approximately 45% of the June shares accumulated again. If they were transferred from BG Holding, the combined holding would be unchanged.

The two largest purchases illustrate the difference: approximately TRY 854 million was paid for 53 million and 67.5 million shares. The same number of shares at the June price would have been worth TRY 2.22 billion.

Disclosure summaries do not establish whether these were exchange, wholesale or off-exchange transactions, or identify the sellers. It has not been disclosed to whom the Pusula and Hedef funds in liquidation sold their Balsu shares.

The price fall has another consequence. The new shares in the private placement will also be priced under the wholesale procedure, while the targeted proceeds remain fixed at TRY 4.64 billion. The lower the share price, the more new shares BG Holding receives and the greater the dilution for other shareholders. The timing of the increase, and thus its pricing reference period, remains unknown.

Odine: the family’s other shareholding

The post’s second allegation concerned Odine Solutions Teknoloji (ODINE). According to Odine’s financial report dated 30 June 2026, Cüneyd Zapsu’s elder brother Abdülaziz Geylan Zapsu owns 19.15% of the capital, making him the second-largest shareholder after Alper Tunga Sagu Burak, with 33%. Medyascope’s 2022 reporting on BİM’s founders records the sibling relationship.

Geylan Zapsu is not a director. Kerim Pertev Zapsu served on the board until 8 May 2026, when he resigned voluntarily. Company documents do not specify his relationship to Geylan and Cüneyd Zapsu.

Odine is among the stocks at the centre of the fund investigation. Its share price fell 98%, from a peak of TRY 3,510 on 13 August to TRY 66.50 on 16 October. Chairman and CEO Burak, Fırat Kerim Ersoy, Ali Yöney and Tuncer Köklü were remanded in custody on 2 October. The company said the measure was not a final conviction and had been challenged. No member of the Zapsu family was among those detained.

The two companies overlap in the same funds. Odine was the largest share position, at 14.5%, in PHE’s portfolio in mid-September; PHE was one of the Pusula funds that bought Balsu in June. Pusula Portföy Üçüncü Hisse Senedi Serbest Fon also owned 7% of Odine on 30 June.

The market value of Geylan Zapsu’s holding was approximately TRY 74 billion at the August peak and TRY 1.4 billion at the October low, according to The Ledgers’ calculations. We found no disclosure establishing a change in that holding after 30 June.

Where the investigation stands

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office is conducting the fund investigation. By 2 October, 85 people had been remanded in custody; on 21 October new detention orders were issued for 31 people. SPK also filed criminal complaints concerning transactions in Tera Finansal Yatırımlar Holding, Vişne Madencilik and Işıklar Enerji shares.

The prosecutor’s and SPK’s statements, and suspect lists reported in the press that The Ledgers could locate and review as of 27 October, do not name Cüneyd Zapsu, Geylan Zapsu, BG Holding or Balsu. It has not been announced whether the 30 June block sale, the preceding price movements or the funds’ purchases are under examination.

Selling a company’s shares to funds subsequently placed in liquidation does not mean the seller is under investigation. Opening an investigation does not mean a crime has been committed.

What is known and what remains unanswered

The records show sales and subsequent purchases. The identities of the sellers in those purchases largely remain an open question.

The Ledgers asks

Accountability begins with clear answers to open questions. The Ledgers is putting the following questions to the people and institutions concerned; responses will be published when received.

To Cüneyd Zapsu and BG Holding

1. Who determined the buyer list for the 30 June wholesale sale? Did you know beforehand that Pusula and Hedef funds would be buyers?

2. Did BG Holding, the Zapsu family or related parties buy or sell Balsu shares during the four limit-up sessions of 22–25 June? With whom was the sale plan shared before the application?

3. TRY 4.64 billion of the proceeds went into the company. How was the remaining approximately TRY 1.95 billion used? Is it financing subsequent purchases?

4. From whom were the 53 million and 67.5 million shares disclosed on 21 and 26 October purchased, and were the transactions on or off the exchange? Did you buy shares from funds in liquidation?

5. What is your response to the allegation that the purchases were intended to protect you from the fund investigation?

To Balsu Gıda

6. What period will be used to calculate the private-placement share price? Are measures envisaged to protect minority shareholders from dilution?

To the liquidators of Pusula Portföy and Hedef Portföy funds

7. What investment decision justified buying Balsu shares at the permitted ceiling on 30 June?

8. To whom, and at what price, were Balsu shares sold during liquidation? Were any sold to BG Holding or Zapsu?

To SPK and the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office

9. Are the 30 June wholesale sale, the preceding price movements and the funds’ purchases within the scope of an examination or investigation?

To Geylan Abdülaziz Zapsu

10. Did your 19.15% stake in Odine change during 2026? Do you currently have any connection with the company’s management?

Based on reporting from: KAP 1621044 — BG Holding toptan satış bildirimi, 26.06.2026; Borsa İstanbul toptan alış-satış işlemi duyurusu, 30.06.2026; KAP 1622579 — Pusula Portföy pay alım bildirimi, 01.07.2026; Hedef Portföy pay alım-satım bildirimi, 10.08.2026; Pusula Portföy pay alım-satım bildirimi, 18.08.2026; KAP 1671084; KAP 1684760; Borsa İstanbul, Toptan Alış Satış İşlemlerine İlişkin Prosedür; Balsu Gıda, 31.03.2026 faaliyet raporu; Odine, 31.03.2026 faaliyet raporu; 30.06.2026 SPK raporu; Odine KAP 1603981 — yönetim kurulu değişikliği, 11.05.2026; StockAnalysis (S&P Global), günlük fiyatlar 25.05–06.08.2026; hisse.net, günlük fiyatlar 28.09–26.10.2026; Investing.com, 17–18.09.2026 kapanışları; Digrin, aylık kapanışlar; Borsatek, 26.06.2026; Endeks24, tahsisli artırım, 03.07.2026; KulisBorsa, Hedef alımı, 03.07.2026; KulisBorsa, 11.08.2026; hisse.net, 12.08.2026; Forbes Türkiye, 17.09.2026; Bloomberg HT, 17.09.2026; Foreks, Zapsu'nun açıklaması, 21.09.2026; Sözcü, 22.09.2026; 04.10.2026; BorsanınGündemi, 02.10.2026; DHA, 05.10.2026; Gaste24, 05.10.2026; Aydın Post, 05.10.2026; 1 Ekim; 2 Ekim; 6 Ekim; 9 Ekim; 13 Ekim; 14 Ekim; Endeks24, Odine, 14.10.2026; Haber7, 15.10.2026; NTV, 16.10.2026; Euronews, 21.10.2026; Borsa Gündem, 22.10.2026; 27.10.2026; hisse.net, Odine, 22.10.2026; Rota Borsa, PHE portföy dağılımı (14.09.2026 verisi); Medyascope, 05.12.2022; X, @rusenpress paylaşımı, 30.09.2026.