Hitay Holding, a Turkish company focusing on corporate venture capital, launched Arena Factoring in a press meeting held Tuesday.

Speaking at the press conference, Ulvi Sertsu, managing director of Arena Faktoring, said the company aims to be one of the top factoring companies in Turkey, “providing fast, accurate and value-added solutions to its clients.”

Factoring is a financial transaction whereby a business sells its accounts receivable, such as invoices, to a third-party at a discount in exchange for immediate money with which to finance its operations.

“Factoring is an important financial model after banking,” Sertsu said. “It is expected that the factoring sector will grow rapidly in the world and soon reach a turnover of $100 billion.” Arena Faktoring aims to reach 200 million Turkish Liras in turnover next year and 500 million liras in 2011, he said.

“Factoring is experiencing really important developments with the decisions of Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, or BDDK. Canceled licenses and new regulations played an important role in terms of the future of the sector,” he said.

Turkey has huge potential in factoring, Sertsu said. “The sector is changing its face and we are aiming to play a key role in this change.”

Arena Faktoring aims to provide short- and medium-term financing to Turkish corporations and small- and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs. “SMEs are developing and expanding their activities. Apart from Istanbul, there is large business volume in İzmir, Antalya and Bursa.”

Commenting on the global turmoil, Sertsu said, “Despite the crisis, factoring grew by 15 percent in 2008 and we are expecting that the sector will continue to grow.”

Arena Faktoring aims to open six branches in different cities in 2010.

Subsequent to the approval of the operating license from BDDK, Arena Faktoring has started its operations as of Oct. 6