Having proven quite resilient in recent years, Türkiye’s lure for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) continued to pull in investors from all over the world in 2016. Foreigners contributed USD 6.2 billion towards M&A investments in Türkiye in 2016, three times as much as had occurred in 2015 according to data released by the Turkish Competition Authority (TCA).
As per the announcement, a total of 209 M&A transactions were reported to TCA in 2016, including privatizations and applications on transactions that fall beyond TCA’s authority.
In 91 of these transactions in 2016, the target company or the newly-formed JV was founded in accordance with Turkish laws, while 9 privatization transactions were reviewed.
Among M&As examined by TCA during 2016, transactions where the target company or newly-formed JV was based in Türkiye (privatizations excluded) totaled around USD 9.6 billion. In addition, M&As by companies where all parties were established in accordance with Turkish laws amounted to USD 2.4 billion.
In 2016, foreign investors invested in Turkish companies across 47 different transactions. Dutch and German investors took the lead with 9 and 6 transactions respectively, followed by Japanese and UK investors with 4 transactions each. Meanwhile, foreign investors channeled around USD 6.2 billion into transactions where Turkish companies were acquired – an amount three times as much as the 2015 level of USD 2 billion.
Primary areas of M&A investments during 2016 included fnancial intermediaries at USD 2.7 billion, followed by power generation, transmission, and delivery at USD 1.9 billion.