The Economic Analysis and Research Department of the Turkish Competition Authority (the "TCA") published its report on mergers and acquisitions for the year 202 (the "Report") on its official website on 6 January 2023.

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 2022.

Significant figues on the M&A notification in 2022 covered in the Report may be summarised as follows:

• Decrease in the number of notified transactions: In 2022, a total of 245 mergers and acquisitions were notified to and examied by the TCA. The number of notified transactions decreased year-on-year (309 transactions in 2021).
• Transactions with Turkish targets: 82 of all the transactions notified to the TCA in 222 targeted companies incorporated in Turkey, with a total value of TRY 72.2 billion (approx. EUR 4.1 billion[1]). Despite a decrease in the number of transactions from 118 in 2021 to 82 in 2022, the overall deal value of these transactions increased by 70%, rising from TRY 42.6 billion to TRY 72.2 billion.
• Transactions between foreign parties: 145 of the transactions notified to the TCA in 2022 took place in overseas solely between foreign parties, with a total value of TRY 5.6 trillion (approx. EUR 331 billion). A slight decrease in the number of foreign-to-foreign transactions is observable, with 145 transactions in 2022 when compaed to 175 transactions in 2021.
• Out-of-scope: 10 transaction notifications were found not to be subject to the TCA's approval as they did not result in a change of control. 1 transaction was classified as an informational note.
• Privatization: 7 transaction notifications were related to privatization.

Other highlights of the Report are as follows:

• Foreign investors: Foreign investors participated in a total of 36 transacions to invest in Turkish companies. With regard to the countries of origin for these investors, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates were the top investors, each involved in five transactions, followed by the United Kingdom with four transactions.
• Sector distribution: Like last year, most of the transactions notified to the TCA concerned the production, transmission and distribution of electricity sector (8), followed by suporting activities for the transportation sector (5), the software program publishing sector (3), the hospital services sector (3) and the computer programming, consultancy and related activities sector (3). In terms of transaction value, the production, transmission and distribution of electricity sector took the spot from the 2021 leader - the production of plastic packaging materials sector.
• Conditional clearance and blocked merger transactions: Only three transactions underwent a final examination of the TCA. The TCA granted approval for two of these three transactions, with the review process of the one remaining transaction still ongoing[2].
• Examination lead-times: In 2022, transactions notifications to the TCA were finalised after approximately 15 days, starting from the date of the last notification.

The Report indicates a decrease in both the number and the value of notified transactions. This can be justified by the significant increase in turnover thresholds from 4 May 2022[3], together with the devaluation of the Turkish lira.