The 2025 Mergers and Acquisitions Outlook Report has been Published

On 7 January 2026, the Turkish Competition Authority (the “Authority”) was published the 2025 Mergers and Acquisitions Outlook Report (the “Report”). The Report sets out statistical data regarding merger, acquisition and privatisation transactions that were reviewed and resolved by the Turkish Competition Board (the “Board”) during 2025. The key findings of the Report that may be considered relevant from a practical perspective are summarised below.

The data for 2025 indicate a particularly active year in terms of both the number and the value of merger and acquisition transactions. In this context, a total of 416 merger, acquisition and privatisation transactions were finalised by the Board during the year, a 33.8% increase from the previous year. This is understood to have been influenced, among other things, by the technology undertaking exemption introduced in 2022, as well as the real-term decrease in the notification thresholds.

From the perspective of transaction values, the 2025 figures point to the highest levels recorded since the M&A Outlook Reports were first published in 2013. Excluding privatisations, the total transaction value reported for transactions involving target companies incorporated in Türkiye amounted to approximately TRY 466 billion. When privatisation transactions are also taken into account, the total transaction value for 181 transactions involving Turkish target companies reached approximately TRY 574 billion.

The Report further demonstrates that transactions involving foreign investors and Turkish target companies reached a significant volume throughout 2025. In this regard, foreign investors invested in Turkish target companies through 55 separate merger and acquisition transactions. The total investment value reported for these transactions amounted to approximately TRY 277 billion, representing the second-highest level of foreign investment recorded since 2013.

An analysis of the sectoral distribution shows that, in terms of the number of transactions involving Turkish target companies, computer programming, consultancy and related activities, along with electricity generation, transmission and distribution, stood out. Based on the classification by main activity areas, from among 19 transactions involving Turkish target companies, the highest total transaction value was recorded in the sector of wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, with an aggregate transaction value of approximately TRY 110.7 billion.

In terms of transaction value, transactions involving financial intermediation activities stood out, while the sectoral distribution of privatisation transactions indicates a significant concentration in the field of electricity generation, transmission and distribution.

Transactions subject to phase II (in-depth) investigations during 2025 are also addressed in the Report. In this scope, the Board decided to initiate in-depth investigations for two merger and acquisition transactions. One of these transactions was cleared on the basis of commitments submitted by the parties, which were deemed sufficient by the Board. In the other transaction, the in-depth investigation was still ongoing when the Report was published. These findings indicate that, despite the increased number of transactions, the number of cases subject to an in-depth review remained limited in 2025.

With respect to administrative procedures, the Report notes that merger and acquisition transactions notified to the Board in 2025 were, on average, finalised within ten days from the date of the final notification. This ten-day period refers to the time elapsed from the date when the Board concluded that all requests for additional information and documents were fully satisfied and to when the review was complete. Moreover, it is reiterated that two transactions were subject to in-depth investigation during the year, one of which was cleared based on commitments, while the in-depth review of the other transaction remained ongoing.