Turkish Competition Authority Releases 2024 Mergers and Acquisitions Overview Report

On 7 January 2025, the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) published its Mergers and Acquisitions Overview Report for 2024 (“Report”) on its website.

The Report includes a comprehensive overview of merger control in Türkiye in 2024 by providing statistics for merger control cases that took place, as well as comparisons with previous years.

In 2024, the Turkish Competition Board (“Board”) examined a total of 311 mergers and acquisitions; the number of notified transactions in 2024 increased by 43% compared to the 217 transactions reported in 2023. Thus, the total number of transactions examined in 2024 reached the highest level of the last 12 years.

The average number of transactions covering the period from 2013 to 2024 was 226.

The number of transactions (excluding privatizations) in which the target company was established in Türkiye increased from 94 in 2023 to 131 in 2024. When categorized by party origin for transactions realized in Türkiye, of the examined transactions:

– The total number of transactions in which all parties are of Turkish origin was 75,

– The number of transactions in which at least one of the parties is of Turkish origin was 49, and

– The number of transactions in which all parties are of foreign origin was seven.

In terms of notified mergers and acquisitions where the target company is located in Türkiye, “computer programming, consultancy, and related activities” and “generation, transmission, and distribution of electric energy” are the areas with the highest number of transactions in 2024. The highest transaction value occurred in the “retail trade not in stores, stall, or markets” sector. The transaction value in this sector accounts for approximately 19% of the transactions in Türkiye reported in 2024, excluding privatizations.

The number of transactions carried out by foreign investors in Türkiye was 47 while the number of transactions consummated abroad and notified in Türkiye for the Board’s approval was 164 in 2024.

When these transactions are ranked according to economic activity areas based on transaction value, the most prominent sectors invested in worldwide in 2024 are as follows:

– Computer programming, consulting, and related activities

– Manufacture of food products

– Activities of monetary intermediary institutions

– Import of agricultural raw materials and live animals

– Support activities for transportation

It is noteworthy that “computer programming, consultancy, and related activities” is also the sector with the largest number of notified transactions in Türkiye.

An analysis of the number of transactions by investor origin reveals the Netherlands ranked first with seven transactions and the France ranked second with six. These countries were then followed by last year’s first-ranked Germany with three transactions.

In terms of privatizations, there were six transactions resolved by the Board in 2024. These transactions relate to the sub-branches of the “production and distribution of electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning,” “culture, arts, entertainment, recreation, and sports,” and “manufacturing” sectors.