Invest News DetailDünya - Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Türkiye last year heightened sharply to reach USD 23.2 billion in volume, according to a report by global consultancy firm Ernst & Young’s (E&Y) Türkiye office. M&A operations’ total worth hit USD 30 billion when transactions with undisclosed deal values are taken into account, doubling that of the previous year’s figure, M&A Activities Türkiye 2012 report has said. Of the total 315 transactions that took place in 2012, 131 involved international investors accounting for USD 11.7 billion, while locals made up the rest with USD 11.5 billion. “Despite the global slowdown in M&A activities, Türkiye bounced back to pre-crisis levels in 2012.” E&Y Türkiye’s Corporate Finance Department head Musfik Cantekinler said on the release of the report. “Türkiye is in a position to lead Central and Eastern Europe in M&A activities.” he said, forecasting a continuous trend for 2013. Türkiye’s energy sector witnessed the majority of last year’s M&A activities as state owned power generation and distribution companies were taken over by the private sector for about USD 7 billion. The transportation sector saw USD 6.9 billion worth of M&As while financial services sector came third with USD 4.3 billion. Türkiye’s credit rating was upgraded to ‘investment grade’ late last year by Fitch Ratings, surging investors’ interest to the emerging country.