January 2024 - Turkey's Competition Authority ("Authority") recently published statistics on the mergers, acquisitions and privatisation transactions concluded by the Competition Board ("Board") in 2023. Highlights from the statistics are summarised below.

  • In 2023, the Board reviewed 217 merger, acquisition, and privatisation transactions, with 94 of them involving Turkish companies1 as the target. The total value of these transactions reached USD 6.85 billion.
  • The total number of foreign transactions abroad that did not involve direct investment in Turkish companies was 113, and the value of these transactions reached USD 2.41 trillion.
  • The number of transactions reviewed by the Board in 2023 remained below the ten-year average of 219 transactions. Although the number of transactions reviewed by the Board reached its peak in 2021, this number has been on a downward trend for the last two years. Compared to the previous year's data, the number of transactions decreased from 246 to 217.
  • Although there was a decline in the number of transactions, the transaction volume in 2023 was above the ten-year average and increased by 57.4% in terms of its USD value compared to the previous year.
  • Of the 217 transactions reviewed, all parties in 48 transactions were Turkish companies, while all parties in 118 transactions were of foreign origin. The total value of the 48 Turkish transactions2, in which all parties were Turkish companies only, amounted to USD 3.45 billion.
  • The number of transactions in which foreign investors were involved through investments in Turkish target companies was recorded as 35 in 2023. In terms of the countries of investors, Germany ranked first with eight transactions, followed by the Netherlands with five transactions and Luxembourg with three transactions. In comparison with last year, the number of investors from the United Arab Emirates decreased to two from five, while the number of investors from the United Kingdom decreased to one from four. The total investment amount in these transactions is estimated to be approximately USD 2.86 billion. This is a slight increase compared to the realised investment amount of USD 2.59 billion in 2022.
  • An analysis of the number and value of transactions by economic activity shows that the highest transaction value was recorded in the "animal production" sector, while the highest number of transactions was recorded in the "production, transmission and distribution of electric energy" sector and "computer programming, consulting and related activities".
  • In terms of transactions in which the target companies are Turkish companies, the highest transaction volumes were recorded in the "agriculture, forestry and fisheries", "transportation and storage" and "wholesale and retail trade" sectors.
  • The number of transactions involving technology undertakings among Turkish transactions in 2023 was 15. The share of these transactions in overall Turkish transactions in terms of transaction value is 3.70%.
  • Acquisition of the sole control of Stellantis Otomotiv Pazarlama A.Ş. by Tofaş Türk Otomobil Fabrikası A.Ş. was the only transaction that was brought under a Phase II review by the Board in 2023.
  • In 2023, mergers and acquisitions notified to the Competition Authority were finalised on average 13 days after the last submission date of the parties.

Footnotes

1. Companies established under the laws of the Republic of Turkey.

2. Transactions where the target company is incorporated under the laws of the Republic of Turkey are classified as "Turkish transactions".

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