Annual Turkish M&A Review 2019

Following two consecutive years of recovery from the dip in 2016, the M&A activity in Turkey saw a sharp fall in 2019 due to the macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges. Total annual M&A volume was around US$5.3 billion through 233 deals, representing the lowest annual deal volume since 2009 and a y-o-y decrease of 56%.

While the total annual deal number was similar to the past ten-year average, the reflection of such activity on the total deal volume was weak as one-third of the total deal number was driven by start-up M&As with small price tags and there were almost no big-ticket transactions.

Despite challenges, foreign investors made a solid contribution to the total annual deal volume with 64% and kept their deal number flat in comparison to the past couple of years through acting with a strategic perspective. On the other hand, due to the general inactivity in the market, their annual deal volume marked one of its lowest levels historically.