Commercial, corporate and M&A

Elvan Aziz is the partner heading the corporate practice of the firm, specialising in corporate and company law, employment and real estate matters. She has also been extensively advising sellers, strategic buyers and PE clients in M&A projects. Elvan regularly advises clients on corporate and commercial issues, including establishment of Turkish subsidiaries, corporate restructuring and restructuring of business, legal mergers and spin-offs and corporate governance. She also advises clients on individual and collective employment law matters, including implementation of management incentive schemes, strategy building on HR aspects of restructuring or closure of business, preparation and negotiation of individual and collective employment agreements and internal bylaws, dealings with the trade union as well as collective and individual termination of employees, including top management. Elvan has significant real estate practice expertise covering structuring of real estate development, including residential, commercial property and hotel development, drafting and negotiating relevant project agreements for developers and investors, as well carrying out legal land due diligence to determine whether the property is fit for its purpose. On the M&A side, Elvan has been actively advising clients in various industries for high profile and strategic transactions which includes cross border acquisitions and international joint ventures. She has been acting for foreign and Turkish private equity funds, pension plans, venture capitals and angel investors as well as strategic investors in their investments and acquisitions in Turkey, as well as advising Turkish selling shareholders and families in their transactions of different sizes and sectors.

Ümit Hergüner is the senior partner for Hergüner Bilgen Üçer, which he founded in 1989. The Hergüner firm is among the leading law firms in Turkey, and is a full service independent law firm representing a major international and national clientele, including international and multilateral financial institutions, global corporations, agencies and other notable clients. Mr. Hergüner is the head of the transactional practice group, which is a renowned global, cross-border mergers and acquisitions practice that cuts across a broad range of industries. Mr. Hergüner also provides expertise in project finance, international finance and banking, foreign, and strategic investments to clients including International Finance Institutions. Mr. Hergüner provides expert advice on foreign and strategic deals as well as legal advice regarding corporate governance, public policy, rule of law and related government affairs issues.

Managing Partner

Benan has wide experience in corporate and commercial law, along with related dispute resolution. He advises clients regarding joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, real estate and leasing matters, private equity projects, as well as every aspect of marketing and distribution agreements. Benan’s clients operate in a range of industries, from energy and industrial through to consumer electronics manufacturing. He regularly provides corporate counselling advice to local, foreign and multi-national clients, including multiple Fortune 500 companies. Benan advises on the legal and practical aspects of distributorship and agency issues, employment law matters, commercial agreements, project-based disputes and tax considerations, among others.

Zeynep Çakmak has substantial experience in the representation of lenders, sponsors and developers in a range of project development and financings. Zeynep’s practice concentrates on energy, infrastructure and project finance, with particular experience in the Turkish power and gas market, privatizations, and energy mergers and acquisitions. She is also specialized in administrative law matters, regulatory agencies and administrative litigation. She has lectured on “Basic Concepts of Anglo-Saxon Law” at the Research Institute of Banking and Commercial Law in Ankara as well as “Introduction to Law” at Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences. She has a Ph.D. in administrative law, energy law.

Managing Partner

Partner

Managing Partner Dr. Umut Kolcuoğlu has diverse experience and comparative knowledge in a wide range of M&A, finance and capital market transactions, as well as international commercial dispute resolution. He has represented leading private equities, multinational and local corporations, financial institutions and borrowers (such as Vitol, Petrol Ofisi, Abu Dhabi Ports Company PJSC, Cosco Group, QTerminals, team.blue, Likewize Corp. (formerly Brightstar Corp.), Glencore, ORIX Corporation, UTC Aerospace (Goodrich Corporation), TPI Composites, Talanx Group, HDI Insurance, VHV Group, BMS Group, Otto Group, Hugo Boss, BioIVT LLC, Bunzl, Deloitte, Siemens, Hyundai Motor Company, Turkven Private Equity, Mediterra Capital, İş Private Equity, Bain Capital, Southeast Europe Equity Fund II, MIC Capital, Bedminster Capital, Boyner Group, Doğan Holding and Hedef Filo) acting in numerous sectors, including energy, financial services, insurance, retail, ports and maritime, aerospace, hospitality, food, electronics, automotive, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, and manufacturing. Umut also acts as expert witness in international arbitration proceedings involving corporate and commercial disputes between Turkish and international parties. He leads the Firm’s German desk. Aside from his legal practice, Umut serves as an independent board member of various companies. In recent years, Umut advised Vitol, one of the world’s largest energy companies, on its acquisition of Petrol Ofisi, Turkey’s leading fuel products distributor, from OMV AG for USD 1.45 billion; QTerminals, a leading Qatar-based terminal operating company, on its acquisition of Port Akdeniz; team.blue on several acquisitions of Turkey’s outstanding hosting and domain name registration service providers; and MIC Capital Management 39 RSC Ltd, a fund owned by Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala, in connection with its investment in Getir B.V. by way of share subscription. He further advised HDI Insurance, one of Turkey's leading insurance companies and a Talanx AG subsidiary, on its acquisition of a majority stake in Fiba Emeklilik ve Hayat, a prominent life insurance and pension company in Turkey. He recently advised Vitol and its Turkish subsidiary Petrol Ofisi on the acquisition of BP’s Turkish downstream fuel operations; Mediterra Capital on the sale of its shares in Paycore, a prominent payment services provider, to Param, the largest full-stack payment service provider of Turkey; and Boyner Group, Turkey’s leading retail group, in connection with Param’s (a licensed e-money institution offering payment solutions) investment in and strategic partnership with Hopi, Boyner’s loyalty and consumer platform. He has handled restructurings and finance transactions involving leading banks, borrowers, financial institutions, funds and other public and private companies, such as Chailease International, Mubadala, Boyner Group, Samsung C&T, Mediterra Capital, Deutsche Bank, Barwa Bank, Wittur Holding and Wittur Turkey, Siemens, NEF, Tavuk Dünyası, Hypo Real Estate Holding, Deutsche Pfandbriefbank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Putzmeister, X-Trade Brokers, LR Global Holding GmbH, FMS Wertmanagement, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Lloyds Bank and Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft Mbh (DEG). He has led the KDK team in the financial restructuring (under the German Financial Market Stabilization Fund Act) of the Turkish component of a portfolio of loans, securities, derivative instruments and other assets and liabilities, having a nominal amount of EUR 173 billion and was the largest transaction of its kind.

Partner

Managing Partner, Head of Corporate and M&A Group

Partner

Burcu’s work includes all aspects of business law, specializing particularly in mergers and acquisitions, foreign investment, corporate law and corporate re-structuring, securities law, venture capital, angel investments and emerging growth. She works closely with clients on regulatory and compliance matters including anti-corruption and international economic sanctions, as well as data protection. Burcu regularly advises major Turkish conglomerates and international companies in corporate transactions and corporate counselling matters, M&A, as well as complex and high value financing issues. Her work covers a wide range of industries including, telecommunications and information technologies, energy, retail, life sciences, manufacturing, real estate and construction.

Partner Bihter Bozbay İnan has significant experience in M&A, joint ventures, corporate and finance transactions. She advises leading private equity and investment firms, such as Turkven Private Equity, Mediterra Capital, MIC Capital, True Value Capital Partners, Oakley Capital, Bain Capital, as well as international and local corporations, such as Doğan Holding, BluTv, team.blue, NN Group, HDI Insurance, Tavuk Dünyası, BioIVT LLC, Elif Holding, Bunzl, Vinmar Group, Vansan, BMS Group, R Vent Medikal, Glasshouse and Clonera Bilişim. She leads the Firm’s M&A team in numerous transactions involving various sectors. Bihter advises clients on all aspects of their investments, from entry to exit and with any add-on investments, both in Turkey and abroad. Bihter also advises on banking and finance projects involving domestic and international corporations and financial institutions, including the Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft, Barwa Bank, İşBank, NEF, Merrill Lynch, Eurobank Tekfen (Burgan Bank), Odea Bank, Garanti Bank, Vakıfbank, Wittur, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg and Samsung C&T Corporation. Bihter’s transactional experience sees her advising across a variety of attractive sectors, including media and entertainment, technology, financial services, insurance, food, healthcare, chemicals, packaging and manufacturing. In recent years, Bihter advised BluTV, Turkey’s first SVOD platform, and its shareholders in connection with  the sale of a minority stake to Warner Bros. Discovery, a global media giant based in the USA,  as well as the subsequent sale of the remaining stake to Warner Bros. Discovery; team.blue on several acquisitions of Turkey’s outstanding hosting and domain name registration service providers; Vinmar International, a global leading marketing and distribution company based in Texas, USA, in connection with the acquisition of several leading Turkish companies operating in chemical industry; MIC Capital Management 39 RSC Ltd, a fund owned by Abu Dhabi state investor, Mubadala, in connection with its investment in Getir B.V. by way of share subscription; Turkven, one of Turkey’s leading private equity funds, on its acquisition of a minority stake in Alterna Gıda, a fast-growing healthy snack manufacturer; and BMS Group on its entry into the Turkish markets, including the acquisition of BMS Insurance Brokerage. More recently, she advised HDI Sigorta, one of Turkey's leading insurance companies and a Talanx AG subsidiary, on its acquisition of a majority stake in Fiba Emeklilik ve Hayat, a prominent life insurance and pension company in Turkey; Mediterra Capital on the sale of its shares in Paycore, a prominent payment services provider, to Param, the largest full-stack payment service provider of Turkey; and R Vent Medikal, a sector-leading healthcare medical device company based in Izmir, and its shareholders on the sale of R Vent Medikal to Plastiflex Group NV, a leading company in the production of tubing systems and components for medical and industrial applications.

Partner

Gülşen primarily focuses on mergers and acquisitions and corporate law matters. She has substantial experience in advising sellers, private equity clients and strategic buyers on complex cross-border and local transactions in a wide range of sectors such as energy, manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, telecommunications and information technologies. She has also been involved in the capital and business restructuring of Turkish companies, as well as the drafting and negotiation of shareholders’ agreements, joint venture agreements and share purchase agreements in high profile transactions. She regularly assists clients in data protection, compliance and complex employment law matters; and advises some of the major players in the payments systems sector.

Local Partner

Counsel, Corporate/ M&A