The Turkish Competition Authority ("Authority") published its 2024 Annual Activity Report ("Report") in June, covering its activities concerning the enforcement of competition law in 2024. The Authority concluded a total of 487 cases in 2024, including 166 competition infringement cases, 311 merger-acquisition cases, and 10 exemption/negative clearance decisions. Additionally, 49 investigations were fully closed in 2024. The Authority carried out 1039 on-site inspections and 27 preliminary investigations. Regarding the sectoral breakdown of completed investigations: 16 cases were in the food industry; 9 in chemicals and mining; 5 in culture, arts, entertainment, recreation, sports, games of chance, and education; 4 in automotive and vehicles; and 4 in information technologies and platform services.
Competition Infringements
The Authority issued 166 decisions on competition infringements in 2024, 27 of which were issued following the preliminary investigation phase, and 139 as a result of full investigations. In terms of sectoral distribution, the prominent sectors include the food industry, culture, arts, entertainment, sports, recreation, games of chance and education, construction, chemicals and mining, and automotive and vehicles. Of the 166 concluded cases, administrative fines were imposed in 20 through ordinary procedures and in 90 through the settlement procedure. The administrative fines imposed stemmed from Articles 4, 6, 16, and 17 of the Law on the Protection of Competition No. 4054 (“Law”). When the sectoral distribution of fines arising from Article 16 of the Law is analyzed, IT and platform services lead with TRY 2.6 billion, followed by the food industry with TRY 1.8 billion, construction with TRY 603.9 million, and labor markets with TRY 579.6 million. The total amount of administrative fines imposed in 2024 reached TRY 7.5 billion, which is three times the amount imposed in the previous year. The Report also includes key decisions taken throughout the year.
Exemption/Negative Clearance and Legislation
According to Article 5 of the Law titled “Exemption,” the Board may exempt certain undertakings from the sanctions under Article 4 of the Law if the conditions listed in this Article are met. The relevant legislative texts issued in this context and to be considered by undertakings are as follows:
- Communiqué No. 2002/2 on Vertical Agreements Block Exemption and the “Guidelines on Vertical Agreements”
- Communiqué No. 2008/2 on Technology Transfer Agreements Block Exemption and the “Guidelines on the Application of Articles 4 and 5 of Law No. 4054 to Technology Transfer Agreements”
- Communiqué No. 2008/3 on Insurance Sector Block Exemption
- Communiqué No. 2013/3 on Specialisation Agreements Block Exemption
- Communiqué No. 2016/5 on R&D Agreements Block Exemption
- Communiqué No. 2017/3 on Motor Vehicle Sector Vertical Agreements Block Exemption and the “Guidelines on the Explanation of the Block Exemption Communiqué on Vertical Agreements in the Motor Vehicle Sector”
- Guidelines on Horizontal Cooperation Agreement
- Guidelines on Subcontracting Agreements
- Guidelines on the General Principles of Exemption
- Guidelines on Voluntary Notification of Agreements, Concerted Practices, and Decisions of Associations of Undertakings
In 2024, a total of 10 exemption/negative clearance files were concluded, including three negative clearances and seven exemptions. Sectorally, these included five decisions in banking, capital markets, finance and insurance services; three in automotive and vehicles; one in chemicals and mining; and one in media, advertising, and broadcasting. The Report also features key decisions issued in this scope during the year.
Mergers and Acquisitions and Legislation
Pursuant to Article 7 of the Law, transactions of a certain nature must be notified to and approved by the Board to become legally valid. The Board determines and announces by way of communiqués which types of mergers and acquisitions require prior notification. Relevant legislation includes:
- Communiqué No. 2010/4 on Mergers and Acquisitions Requiring Board Approval
- Guidelines on Cases Considered Mergers and Acquisitions and the Concept of Control, which outlines permanent changes in control
- Guidelines on Relevant Undertakings, Turnover, and Ancillary Restrictions in Mergers and Acquisitions to enhance legal certainty and foreseeability
- Guidelines on the Assessment of Horizontal Mergers and Acquisitions, outlining general principles considered in preliminary evaluations
- Guidelines on the Assessment of Non-Horizontal Mergers and Acquisitions
- Guidelines on Remedies Acceptable by the Authority in Merger and Acquisition Transactions under Article 7 of the Law, to guide undertakings in offering remedies to address competition concerns
In 2024, the Competition Board issued decisions on 311 applications, including 2 mergers, 198 acquisitions, 105 joint ventures, and 6 privatizations. Among the 311 transactions, 8 were conditionally approved, and 274 unconditionally approved, while 29 were found either out of scope or not subject to notification. In terms of sectoral distribution, IT and platform services, infrastructure services, chemicals and mining, healthcare services, and automotive and vehicles were prominent. Additionally, banking, capital markets, finance and insurance services, logistics, warehousing and postal services, machinery industry, food industry, and construction also ranked in the top 10 sectors. The Report also highlights significant decisions within this scope.
General Evaluation
Reviewing the last five years (2020-2024), 2024 stands out as the year with the highest number of concluded cases. The number of resolved files increased by approximately 32% compared to the previous year, reaching 487. Regarding the type of resolved cases: the number of competition infringement decisions rose from 145 in 2023 to 166 in 2024. Likewise, the number of merger and acquisition decisions increased from 217 to 311, and exemption/negative clearance decisions from 8 to 10.
Most of the 166 competition infringement decisions were based on violations of Article 4 of the Law.
In 2024, the number of concluded merger/acquisition/joint venture/privatization transactions totaled 311. This reflects a 43% increase compared to the previous year.
In addition, the Report provides a comparative overview of administrative fines imposed over the last five years. For 2024, total fines are broken down as follows: TRY 5,946,683,069 for substantive violations, TRY 1,379,315 for late notification of mergers/acquisitions, TRY 191,891,583 for obstruction or hindrance of on-site inspections, and TRY 1,376,550,667 in proportional administrative fines.
Legislative Amendments
To enable faster and more effective investigations of competition infringements, Articles 34, 43, and 45 of the Law were amended via the Law No. 7511 on Amendments to the Turkish Commercial Code and Certain Laws, published in the Official Gazette on May 29, 2024.
Additionally, the “Regulation on Administrative Fines for Restrictive Agreements, Concerted Practices and Decisions and Abuse of Dominant Position” was revised, and the new regulation entered into force upon its publication in the Official Gazette dated December 27, 2024, and numbered 32765.
A Draft Guideline on Competition Infringements in Labor Markets was prepared and opened for public consultation by decision No. 24-37/888-M of the Board dated 12.09.2024.
Impact Assessment Report
The Impact Assessment Report aims to estimate the impact of the Authority's decisions on consumer welfare for the years 2023–2024. You may access our article evaluating the Authority's Impact Assessment Report as Sakar Law Office.
2024 Merger and Acquisition Outlook Report
The 2024 Merger and Acquisition Outlook Report addresses the transactions reviewed and concluded in 2024 that were notified to the Authority, focusing on summarizing developments in mergers and acquisitions during the year. You may access our article evaluating the Authority's 2024 Merger and Acquisition Outlook Report as Sakar Law Office.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
