On 5 January 2024, the TCA released its longawaited M&A Overview Report for the year 2023 ("Report"), which offers important insights into key trends and statistics related to mergers, acquisitions, and privatization transactions reviewed by the Board during the previous year.
Transaction Volumes and Trends
In 2023, the Board assessed 217 transactions, representing a noticeable decrease compared to the 245 transactions reviewed in the previous year. This 11% decline can partly be attributed to adjustments in jurisdictional thresholds made in 2022 and slightly deviates from the decade-long average of 219 transactions. Despite the peak in transaction numbers occurring in 2021, there has been a consistent decline over the past two years. Interestingly, despite the decrease in the number of transactions, the transaction volume in 2023 exceeded the ten-year average, experiencing a significant 57.4% increase in its USD value compared to 2022.
Global Reach and Transaction Parties
Out of the 217 transactions assessed, 94 targeted Turkish companies, while 113 involved foreign entities. German-origin investors led with 8 transactions, followed by Dutch-origin investors. However, countries such as Sweden, Japan, Israel, and Spain, which invested in Turkish target companies in 2022, did not make any investments in 2023.
Transactions Involving Turkish Entities
Transactions involving Turkish entities were diverse, including 39 transactions with exclusively Turkish parties, 34 transactions with both Turkish and nonTurkish parties, and 9 transactions with solely nonTurkish parties, indicating the international nature of M&A activities in Türkiye.
Key Sectors
The Report highlights key sectors in global M&A transactions, such as computer programming, consulting, programming and publishing, food product manufacturing, chemical product manufacturing, basic pharmaceutical product manufacturing, and wholesale and retail trade and vehicle repair. For M&A transactions with Turkish targets, the sectors with the highest number of transactions were electricity generation, energy transmission and distribution, and computer programming and consultancy. The animal production industry recorded the highest transaction value.
Commitments and Phase II Reviews
The Report does not make any reference to transactions that were cleared conditionally in 2023, indicating that none of the cleared transactions required behavioural or structural commitments to address competitive concerns. As for Phase II reviews, the Board initiated a more in-depth investigation process for only one concentration.
Review Timelines
On average, the Board took approximately 13 calendar days to reach decisions on completed or subsequently submitted filings, although this does not include extra time spent on multiple information requests common in merger control cases.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the M&A Overview Report for 2023 offers valuable insights into the dynamics of mergers, acquisitions, and privatization transactions in Türkiye. It provides perspectives on trends and investment prospects in the country.
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