Turkish Purchases Abroad Match Foreign Acquisitions at Home

28.03.2015

Foreign company purchases and mergers conducted in 2014 in Turkey increased by 27 percent, reaching $5.25 billion. While foreign investor interest in Turkey is still high, this year 11 Turkish companies invested $5.1 billion in foreign mergers and company purchases, which doubled the previous record that was $2.5 billion in 2012.

According to a report issued by Baker McKenzie, a company specializing in company mergers and purchases, the unit price per transaction in Turkey is around $468 million while previous transactions were worth around $215 million in 2007. The overseas purchases of Turkey in 2013 were around $1 billion, and Turkish companies have mostly invested in the United Kingdom, with figures around $3.2 billion — mainly due to Ülker’s purchase of United Biscuits for more than $3 billion. When it bought Godiva in 2008, Yıldız Holding became the record holder of the biggest purchasing operation conducted abroad by a Turkish company; however, it also revived its own record by purchasing United Biscuits.

After the U.K., Azerbaijan was the second country that attracted the highest amount of Turkish investment with $1.5 billion invested in 2014 and Russia was third with $175 million invested in 2014. There was also a steep increase in foreign investments made in Turkey in 2014. Foreign companies’ company purchases in Turkey were around $5.25 billion with a 27 percent increase from last year, which were around $4.1 billion. Moreover, the number of transactions conducted this year was 66.

Topping the list of companies that have invested in Turkey the most are Spanish companies with $2.5 million, followed by Chinese companies with $481 million and companies from United Arab Emirates with $439 million. Additionally, global mergers and purchases increased to $1.25 trillion from around $726 billion last year, which broke a world record. There was also an increase in the number of higher purchases and mergers, as 38 percent of the mergers and purchases conducted within this year were higher than $5 billion — the highest amount recorded since 1999. Furthermore, companies are more willing to invest in countries with high growth rates.

In terms of sectors, the health sector broke a record this year with investments increasing by 80 percent to $257 billion, and 77 percent of the company mergers conducted within the health sector were worth more than $5 billion. Regionally, investments in Asia increased by 26 percent to $666 billion and Europe to $780 billion.