The Turkish Competition Authority Has Published Its M&A Overview Report Relating to the Year 2023

The Economic Analysis and Research Department of the Turkish Competition Authority (the "TCA") published its report on mergers and acquisitions for the year 2023 (the "Report") on its official website on 5 January 2024. 

Giving a snapshot of the TCA's M&A activities, the Report contains various comparative statistics regarding the transactions notified to and approved by the TCA in 2023.

Significant figures on the M&A notifications in 2023 covered in the Report may be summarised as follows: 

Decrease in the number of notified transactions: In 2023, a total of 217 mergers and acquisitions were notified to and examined by the TCA. The number of notified transactions decreased year-onyear (245 transactions in 2022).

Transactions with Turkish targets: 94 of all the transactions notified to the TCA in 2023 targeted companies incorporated in Türkiye, with a total deal value of TRY 162.6 billion (approx. EUR 6.9 billion [1]). In parallel with the increase in the number of transactions in 2023 from 82 to 94 when compared to the last year, the overall deal value of these transactions increased by approximately 125%, rising from TRY 72.2 billion to TRY 162.6 billion (approx. EUR 2.8 billion to EUR 6.3 billion).

Transactions between foreign parties: 113 of the transactions notified to the TCA in 2023 took place overseas, 111 of which took place solely between foreign parties, with a total value of TRY 57.4 trillion (approx. EUR 2.4 trillion). A slight decrease in the number of foreign-to-foreign transactions is observable, with 111 transactions in 2023 when compared to 145 transactions in 2022.

Out-of-scope: 6 transaction notifications were found not to be subject to the TCA's approval, as they did not result in a change of control, while 1 transaction is under final review.

Privatization: 3 transaction notifications were related to privatisation.

Other highlights of the Report are as follows:

Foreign investors: Foreign investors participated in a total of 35 transactions to invest in target Turkish companies, with a total notified investment value of TRY 68 billion (approx. EUR 2.6 billion). As regards the countries of origin for these investors, Germany was the top investor, participating in eight transactions.

Sector distribution: Most of the transactions notified to the TCA concerned the production, transmission and distribution of electricity sector and the computer programming, consultancy and related activities sector, each with 11 notifications. These sectors are followed by other wholesale trade in specialised stores sector and the retail trade of other goods in specialized stores sector, each with six notifications. In terms of transaction value, the animal production sector took the top spot from the 2022 leader – the production, transmission and distribution of electricity sector.

Conditional clearance and blocked merger transactions: Only one transaction was subject to the final examination of the TCA. The review process of the transaction in question is still ongoing.

Examination lead-times: In 2023, transaction notifications to the TCA were finalised after approximately 13 days, starting from the date of the last notification.

The Report shows a decrease in the number the notified transactions, whereas the deal values have increased significantly, largely due to increased deal values in foreign-to-foreign transactions.

[1] Calculated in accordance with the Turkish Central Bank's average buying exchange rate for 2023, which is EUR 1 = TRY 25.68