Significant Amendments are Introduced to the Communiqué Concerning the Mergers and Acquisitions Calling for the Authorization of the Competition Board
Pursuant to the Communiqué Amending Communiqué Concerning the Mergers and Acquisitions Calling for the Authorization of the Competition Board (“Amending Communiqué”) published in the Official Gazette dated 04.03.2022 and numbered 31768, the turnover thresholds have been increased for transactions that require authorization from the Competition Board (“Board”).
From now onwards, the Board’s authorization shall be required for the following cases in order for the relevant transactions to gain legal validity:
- Total turnovers of the transaction parties in Turkey exceed seven hundred fifty million TL, and turnovers of at least two of the transaction parties in Turkey each exceed two hundred fifty million TL, or
- The asset or activity subject to acquisition in acquisition transactions, and at least one of the parties of the transaction in merger transactions have a turnover in Turkey exceeding two hundred fifty million TL and the other party of the transactions has a global turnover exceeding three billion TL.
However, the above-mentioned two hundred fifty million TL turnover thresholds are not required for the transactions concerning the acquisition of technology undertakings operating or having R&D activities in the Turkish geographical market or providing services to users in Turkey.
To highlight another significant development, the Board’s evaluation criteria for mergers and acquisitions has been revised. In this respect, it has been regulated that mergers or acquisitions that result in a significant impediment in effective competition in the whole or part of the country, especially by creating a dominant position or strengthening an existing dominant position will be prohibited.
Last but not least, amendments have been made in the content and format of the Notification Form Concerning Mergers and Acquisitions in the Annex of the Communiqué numbered 2010/4. In this respect, the aforementioned updated form shall be taken as basis within the scope of the filings made to the Board regarding mergers and acquisitions.
Amending Communiqué enters into force two months after its publication.
You may find the Turkish version of the Amending Communiqué here.
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