Dr. Erman Ilıcak, born on October 3, 1967, in Ankara, is a Turkish philanthropist, businessman, investor, and the founder of Rönesans Holding. Established in 1993, his engineering firm ranks as Europe's 9th largest international contracting company and the 38th globally.
Until 2014, Dr. Ilıcak served as the Chair of the Board of Rönesans Holding before passing the role to İpek Ilıcak Kayaalp. He currently occupies the position of Honorary President of Rönesans Holding.
Dr. Erman Ilıcak, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Rönesans Education Foundation established in 2009, dedicates a significant portion of his time to enhancing the country's educational infrastructure and supporting sustainability research.
Educational Background
Dr. Erman Ilıcak was born on October 3, 1967, in the Darende district of Malatya. He graduated from TED Ankara College in 1985 and obtained a degree in Civil Engineering from METU in 1990.With the establishment of Rönesans İnşaat in 1993, he laid the foundations of Rönesans Holding, which today extends to 30 countries with over 18,000 employees. Continuing his education throughout his professional career, Dr. Erman Ilıcak earned an MBA degree in 2002 from the Vienna University of Economics and Business in conjunction with the University of Minnesota. In addition, he obtained a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the International Business School in Paris in 2011.
During the 2020 – 2023 period, he served on the International Advisory Board of WU University. Additionally, he was heavily involved in the founding stages of three foundation universities, serving on their Boards of Trustees and contributing to various significant actions, including ensuring that the university buildings were constructed with suitable architecture reflecting their founding purposes.
Career
In 1994, he opened his first international office, commencing his ventures in the international engineering and contracting sector. Subsequently, he led the company's expansion and operations growth over the next few years.In 2001, he founded Rönesans Gayrimenkul Yatırım A.Ş. which went on to become Türkiye's largest commercial real estate investor with 12 shopping centers across 7 cities and a total of 750,000 m² of leasable space. In 2014, he signed a partnership agreement with the Singaporean investment fund GIC. Under Rönesans Gayrimenkul Yatırım, he created notable shopping mall chain brands such as Hilltown, Piazza, and Optimum. He began investing in renewable energy with the establishment of Rönesans Enerji in 2007. In 2023, he transferred 50% of Rönesans Enerji's shares to TotalEnergies and announced the company's continuation of 100% green energy investments to support Türkiye's green energy transition. In 2011, he founded Rönesans Endüstri Tesisleri to construct leading industrial plants in different geographies worldwide. In 2019, he launched 'The World's First Natural Gas to Gasoline Plant' in Turkmenistan with Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. In 2012, through Rönesans Sağlık Yatırım, he undertook six city hospital projects with the Public-Private Partnership model (Gaziantep, İstanbul Başakşehir Çam and Sakura, Adana, Bursa, Yozgat, Elazığ). He partnered with the Paris-based infrastructure fund Meridiam and the Japanese company Sojitz for the execution of these projects, which Rönesans Sağlık Yatırım spearheaded.
Dr. Erman Ilıcak led Rönesans Holding to its debut in the ENR 'World's Top 250 International Contractors' list in 2006 and has maintained its position among the top 10 largest international contractors in Europe since 2015. His acquisitions of the Switzerland-based Alpine (later renamed Heitkamp Swiss), Germany-based Heitkamp, and the Netherlands-based Ballast Nedam in 2014 and 2015, respectively, accelerated Rönesans Holding's growth in Europe. Founded in 1993, Rönesans Holding has worked with over 30,000 employees in 30 countries.
Dr. Erman Ilıcak effectively expanded Rönesans Holding's growth strategy into the construction, real estate, energy, and healthcare sectors with his strategic diversification of business areas. He considers the effective combination of the company's international financing capabilities and its construction experience to be one of Rönesans Holding's greatest achievements.
Through partnerships with leading global institutions such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), Meridiam, Sojitz, TotalEnergies, and Samsung C&T Corporation, Rönesans Holding has launched dozens of investment projects in Türkiye, totaling a value of 8 billion euros.
With ongoing investment plans, this figure is expected to exceed 12 billion euros by 2027.
International Awards
In recognition of his substantial efforts to strengthen cooperation and develop friendship between Türkiye and Japan, Rönesans Holding President Dr. Erman Ilıcak received Japan's highest state award, 'Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon' from Emperor Naruhito of Japan on May 13, 2022. Previous recipients of the 'Order of the Rising Sun,' the highest honor awarded to foreigners, include Mario Monte, former Prime Minister of Italy; Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand; Condoleezza Rice, former United States Secretary of State; Richard Cheney, former Vice President of the United States; William Hague, former Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom; and Manouchehr Mottaki, former Foreign Minister of Iran.Philanthropy
Today, Dr. Ilıcak contributes financially to ensure that over 100,000 students in Türkiye receive education under better conditions. He dedicates most of his time to education and environmental initiatives.He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Rönesans Education Foundation, established in 2009. Dr. Erman Ilıcak has played a significant role in the implementation of numerous charitable activities within the foundation. He has spearheaded the successful completion and delivery of several important projects, including the Malatya Erman Ilıcak Science High School, the TED Rönesans College, the İnönü University Darende Bekir Ilıcak Vocational School, the Amasya Taşova Yüksel Akın Vocational School, the Yozgat Ayşe Ilıcak IH Secondary School, the Anatolian High School for Girls, the Keriman Çetinkaya Kindergarten, the TED University Ayşe Ilıcak Library, the Bursa Gürsu Cüneyt Yıldız State Hospital, the Ankara Erman Ilıcak Science High School, and the Ayşe Ilıcak Kindergarten. Through the REV Scholarship Program, which focuses primarily on education and youth, he has provided scholarships to thousands of students without any expectation of reimbursement.
He led substantial relief efforts by Rönesans Holding in response to the devastating Gaziantep-Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, occurring on February 6, 2023. Following the twin earthquakes, Rönesans Holding dispatched rescue teams, hundreds of construction machines, and trucks loaded with emergency supplies to the affected area within the first 24 hours. Over 2,000 Rönesans volunteers participated in the relief efforts. Rönesans construction sites, hospital projects, and Malatya Erman Ilıcak Science High School provided shelter for more than 4,000 people on the first day. The number of meals served in the initial weeks exceeded one million.
Dr. Erman Ilıcak also established container cities in Adıyaman and Malatya within two months of the earthquake disaster, which he subsequently donated to the relevant public authorities, providing temporary living spaces for approximately 10,000 people with 2,000 containers. These container cities feature dedicated social spaces specially designed to make women, children, and youth feel welcome. Rönesans Holding partnered with UNICEF to develop psychosocial programs for women and children in these communal areas. Additionally, civil society organizations such as Tohum Autism, TEGV, and Purple Roof provide services in other social spaces within the container cities.