Law No. 7418 on Amendment of Press Law and Certain Laws (“Amendment Law”) is published in Official Gazette of October 18, 2022 and introduced significant amendments on certain laws including the Press Law No. 5187, the Turkish Criminal Code No. 5237 and the Law No. 5651 on the Regulation of Broadcasts via the Internet and the Prevention of Crimes Committed through Such Broadcast (“Law No. 5651”) and the Law No. 5809 Electronic Communications Law (“Law No. 5809”).

The Turkish Competition Board (“Board”) conditionally approved the acquisition of sole control over Ferro Corporation (“Ferro”) by American Securities LLC (“American Securities”) through its solely controlled affiliate ASP Prince Holdings Inc. (“Prince”). The Board determined that the transaction would result in the significant impediment of effective competition in the market for glass coatings for home appliances in Turkey. That being said, the Board conditionally approved the transaction subject to the commitments submitted by the parties to the European Commission (“Commission”) on the grounds that the commitments removed the entire horizontal overlap between the parties in the horizontally affected markets in Turkey. 

The Law on the Amendment of Press Law numbered 7418 and Some Other Laws [“Amendment Law”] published in the Official Gazette No. 31987 dated October 18, 2022. While the amendments adopted mainly in the Press Law significantly expand the scope of this law, the Amendment Law also includes new regulations with regard to online news tools, the number of which are increasing day by day as opposed to printed media.

With the Draft Communique on Principles Regarding Companies Whose Shares Will Be Traded on the Venture Capital Market [“Draft Communique”] published in the Official Gazette on 20 September 2022, it will be possible to sell shares of a non-public joint stock company to qualified investors on the stock with the status of a public company. The Draft Communique also regulates the liabilities and exemptions of such companies. It is expected to enter into force soon following collecting public opinion.

Dentons Turkish affiliate Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki Attorney Partnership has advised Qnbeyond Ventures on its investment in FirstBatch.

This case summary includes an analysis of the Ankara 2nd Administrative Court’s (“the Court of First Instance”) Sahibinden SoE decision (E. 2022/254, 15.04.2022) in which the Court of First Instance stays of execution of the Board’s decision where the Board imposed an administrative monetary fine on Sahibinden for hindering and complicating the on-site inspection as per Article 16 of the Law No 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Law No 4054”) based on the grounds that the deleted WhatsApp messages did not contain business related issues and were still accessible from the other employees’ WhatsApp group (21-27/354-174, 27.05.2021).  

The Aksan Law Firm has advised Livzym Biotechnologies on its latest investment round. Caliskan Okkan Toker advised the Turkey Development Fund on its investment.

The Turkish M&A market never lacked surprises or activity and has always been one to watch, even at times when other markets were navigating doldrums. The rest of 2022 and 2023 are not likely to be exceptions and there is certainly room to be optimistic in terms of increased activity.

The labor markets have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic globally and Turkey had its fair share of lockdowns, economic downturns, and unprecedented shifts in the business landscape. One of these structural changes in, and challenges for, the Turkish market is remote working.

Turkey, a G20 country, has been experiencing an increase in energy demand with its high-speed economic and population growth which makes it even more dependent on energy imports for primary energy sources. To ensure the security of its energy supply, Turkey has set its mind to increase the share of renewable energy resources, as per its renewable energy and energy efficiency action plans. That being said, besides other obstacles, the country’s priority target cannot be achieved without an innovative financing resource.

In the past few years, Turkey has experienced a veritable tech miracle. A swath of start-ups, primarily in the gaming and e-commerce sectors, has attracted multi-billion-dollar investments and achieved record valuations. Two companies have even reached decacorn status – a valuation of over USD 10 billion.

Recent decades have witnessed economic turmoil, crises, recessions, inflation surges across the world, and, lately, the long-lasting effects of the pandemic globally. During these downturns, the issue of financial restructuring has surfaced as a key concern of policymakers, financial institutions, and market players.

For the last few years, and especially since the second half of 2021, Turkey has been struggling with an ever-growing financial and economic crisis. Dubbed as one of the “Fragile Five” economies in financial circles, the country has long been seen as a developing economy with a high degree of dependence on foreign investment and US monetary policy, limiting its power to control and contain financial emergencies.

An in-depth look at Nazif Karatas of Nazali Attorney Partnership covering his career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer as well as a few insights about him as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

Dentons and Turkish affiliate Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki Attorney Partnership have advised Dutch Development Finance Corporation's venture capital program FMO Ventures on a EUR 5.5 million subscription for convertible notes and redeemable shares in SolarX. Satis Partners reportedly advised FMO in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Senegal. Ffooks Gokulsing reportedly advised SolarX.

Recently, there have been certain significant developments regarding the data protection practice and some important guidelines have been published by the Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority. Below is an overview on the important points of the relevant developments.

With the Regulation Amending the Distance Contracts Regulation [“Amendment Regulation”] published on the Official Gazette on 23 August 2022, many amendments were introduced to the Distance Contracts Regulation [the “Regulation”] published on the Official Gazette numbered 29188 and dated 27 November 2014. Many of these amendments aim to provide harmonisation with the amended Law no.6563 on the Regulation of Electronic Commerce [the “Law”] on 7 July 2022, and to regulate the liabilities of intermediary service providers in a comprehensive manner.

Dentons Turkish affiliate Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki Attorney Partnership has advised Sabanici Ventures and Turkiye Development Fund’s TKYB Sermaye Fonu on their investment in Figopara. Nazali advised L2G Ventures on leading the USD 11 million round. The Gokce Attorney Partnership advised Figopara. Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocakli advised Logo Yazilim on its investment. Reportedly, BTS & Partners advised Eczacibasi on participating in the round.