M&A transactions keeps on high trend

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

A total of 73 mergers and acquisitions took place in Turkey during the first three months. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜLER

Ernst&Young has announced the mergers and acquisitions report for Turkey for the first quarter of 2013, showing the high trend in business transactions has continued after the record $30 billion M&A volume in 2012.

A total of 73 mergers and acquisitions took place in Turkey during the first three months of 2013, with a combined worth of around $8 billion, according to the report. This amounts to a 40 percent increase when compared to the same period of 2012. Turkey continues to be attracting the investors’ attention, the report mentioned. 

The biggest public transactions were the privatizations of Toroslar electricity distribution company and Istanbul’s Anatolian side electricity distribution company, now owned by EnerjiSA, and of Başkent Gas, now owned by the Torunlar Gıda. EnerjiSA won the Toroslar tender for $1.7 billion and the Istanbul’s Anatolian Side electricity distribution tender for around $1.2 billion. Toroslar provides electricity to the southern provinces of Adana, Gaziantep, Hatay, Mersin, Osmaniye and Kilis. Torunlar Gıda won the Başkent Gas tender for $1.162 billion. 

The acquisition of 93.95 percent of Yapı Kredi Sigorta by Allianz and 70.84 percent of Alternatif Bank by the Commercial Bank of Qatar appeared to be most spectacular transactions in the private sector. The most active industries in terms of the volume of mergers and acquisitions were ranked as energy, manufacturing, financial services and real estate. 

“We had announced our M&A volume expectation for Turkey in 2013 as $25 billion before. Considering the expected privatizations and private sector transactions are to be made in the whole year, we can say that the total M&A volume could be in line with our expectations,” Müşfik Cantekinler, Head of Corporate Finance of Ernst & Young. 

In 2012, Turkey’s positive economic indicators continued to attract the attention of investors. Based on sources available to E&Y, the total number of mergers and acquisitions in Turkey was 315 in 2012.