ISTANBUL

Türkiye saw a record level of merger and acquisitions this January to November, according to KPMG Türkiye Mergers & Acquisitions Services.

Ozge Ilhan, a partner at the firm, said in a Tuesday press release that the year was marked by high inflation and interest rates, both worldwide and in Türkiye, which impacted mergers and acquisitions.

Stating that transactions worldwide fell from $3.2 trillion to $2.4 trillion over the same period, she said: “There was a decrease due to high inflation, and while approximately 53,000 transactions were realized in the first 11 months of last year, 51,000 transactions were realized this year, which is an obvious increase.”

“As for Türkiye, only 205 transactions were realized last year, although we see a total of 486 being realized this year, which marks it a record year in terms of the number of transactions in the country.”

Ilhan said the volume of merger and acquisition transactions in Türkiye this January-November totaled $2.7 billion, which shows a transaction volume below last year, adding:

"When we include the estimated cost of undisclosed transactions, we see that the total transaction value is actually $7.3 billion.”

She said automobile maker Tofas' purchase of Stellantis shares was the biggest transaction of the year.

According to her, in the top 10 transactions, the industrial production, automotive, and energy sectors stood out.

According to the report, in terms of other major transactions in the industrial production and automotive sectors, UK-based Volex's acquisition of all of Murat Kablo’s shares for $195.8 million was noteworthy, while US-based Univar Solutions’ acquisition of all of Kale Kimya’s shares for $143.6 million indicated the continuity of strategic investor appetite for Türkiye.

In the energy sector this year, Tatarstan-based PJSC Tatneft acquired 100% of the shares of Dogan Holding-owned Aytemiz, an oil firm, for $336 million.

Vitol Group's subsidiary Petrol Ofisi bought a stake in BP's fuel operations in Türkiye.

In terms of the number of transactions, the sectors of technology, media and telecommunications ranked first with 228 transactions, followed by industrial production and automotive with 58.

This January-November, the US and UK were the countries investing the most in Türkiye.

The top three countries were the US with 18 transactions, the UK with 15, and Germany with 10, followed by the United Arab Emirates with six and Spain with four transactions.

Foreign investors had a share of $1.2 billion in mergers and acquisitions with 94 transactions.

*Writing by Emir Yildirim