Merger and acquisition volume soars 41 percent in Turkey in 2017: Report

ISTANBUL

A total of 298 merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions were sealed in Turkey in 2017, with energy, manufacturing and technology being the hottest sectors, a new report showed on Jan. 8.

The transaction volume, which was worth $10.3 billion, saw a 41 percent year-on-year increase, the latest M&A report by Deloitte Turkey showed, Reuters reported.

There will likely a significant rise in such transactions over this year, according to the report.

The military coup attempt of July 2016 and subsequent state of emergency delivered a heavy blow to foreign interest in such transactions in 2016, pushing down the volume to one of the lowest in the last decade. However, 2017 witnessed a considerable bounce-back.

Deloitte Turkey Partner and Financial Consultancy Services Leader Başak Vardar said there was a recovery in the market despite various macroeconomic and political risks.

“The transaction volume reached over $10 billion mainly thanks to a number of large-scale foreign investments,” Vardar said, predicting that the rebound in the sector would likely accelerate in 2018.

Europeans made up the most active foreign investor group last year with a total of 36 transactions, according to the report. There was a decrease in investments from the Asia Pacific region and Gulf investments also remained at a limited level.

Among last year’s biggest foreign investments were the acquisitions of Petrol Ofisi by the Netherlands-based Vitol from Austria’s OMV and of majority stakes in Garanti Bank by Spain’s BBVA and in MersinPort by IFM Investors.

The foreign transaction volume rose to $5.5 billion last year, a 45 percent year-on-year increase from 2016.

Despite the year-on-year rise, 2017 still saw the second lowest number of foreign transactions of the last decade after 2016.