Dünya – Merger and acquisition (M&A) operations in the Turkish market involving foreign parties have reached a volume of USD 3.5 billion during the first eight months of 2015. Participating in 53 transactions between January and August, foreign parties opted to invest heavily in Turkish high-tech and internet companies, while chain retailers, restaurants and private school networks in the country also saw an increased cross-border demand.
The total volume of 124 M&A operations made by local and foreign investors in Türkiye during the given period has reached USD 4.3 billion, according to Mustafa Akgün, a director at Pragma, the Istanbul-based investment banking and advisory firm. Generally, only for part of the M&A operations are the full financial details publicly disclosed, and the real volume is likely to be appreciably higher.
Out of the 124 deals, 53 with foreign involvement have an estimated value of USD 3.5 billion with the year-end expectation of this figure exceeding USD 5 billion.
During the first eight months, foreign investors concluded 22 M&A deals in high-tech and internet sector, followed by deals in real estate-construction, manufacturing, food, beverages and energy industries in smaller numbers.
Akgün stated that the USA, Germany, the UAE, Austria and the UK, lined up as the origin countries of foreign parties involved in the M&A operations in Türkiye.
“Foreign investor interest in fast-growing mid-sized Turkish businesses in consumer-oriented industries is likely to continue into the future, given the growing population and rising income levels”, Akgün noted.
Significant transactions in Türkiye this year include the complete acquisition of online food delivery company, Yemeksepeti, by Delivery Hero for USD 589 million and Dubai-based private equity investor Abraaj Group’s partnering with Hepsiburada.com, Türkiye’s largest online retailer, for a deal said to be around USD 400 million. Abraaj also invested in matress and bedroom textiles producer, BRN Baza Ev Tekstili, and Yu-Ce Medical, a medical supplies producer. Another investor from the Gulf region, Investcorp, from Bahrain, took over the majority stakes in the Turkish telematics company, Arvento Mobile Systems while private school network, Mektebim Okullari, gained a Saudi partner, SEDCO Holding Group, with a 50-percent stake sell.
More recent activities include the Qatari investment fund Mayhoola’s partnering with the Turkish retailer, Boyner, via a 30.7 percent stake acquisition deal for USD 332 million, and the French Lactalis Group’s 80 percent stake acquisition in the Turkish dairy company, Ak Gida. This deal reportedly exceeded USD 1 billion in volume.