May 4 - One week after launching its IPO (initial public offering), Latek Logistics shares began trading on the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

Latek, a Turkish freight forwarder offered 26.67 percent of its shares to investors on April 20.

After the bell-ringing ceremony, eight million shares started trading under the Latek ticker. Demand during the IPO was strong, with nearly 31.7 million Turkish Liras (USD 21.3 million) were collected from investors with a ceiling price of 3.96 liras per share.

"The logistics sector has a very high potential in Turkey," said Levent Erdoðan, board chairman of Latek. "Currently, the sector has an annual volume of between USD 5 billion and USD 6 billion."

Latek aims to increase this volume by fivefold within five years, as part of the IPO revenue will be used in new investments, Erdoðan added.

The bell-ringing ceremony was also attended by Beyazýt Öztürk, a talk-show host and Demet Akbað, an actress.

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