Özel & Özel

Established in Istanbul in 1977, Özel & Özel comprises highly experienced attorneys with in depth knowledge of international transactions and large-sized local projects with international scope. We provide a full range of legal and business related services to our clients in a creative, timely and cost-effective fashion in addition to facilitating the best solution to complex business problems. Having partnered for decades with leading international law firms our worldwide practice has a proven track record for work of the highest quality to service our domestic and international clientele.

Our firm and its experienced team of lawyers have represented clients from various sectors and have provided legal services in numerous matters since the firm’s foundation. Our diverse client portfolio includes corporations engaged in multinational energy, telecommunications, fuel distribution, engineering, food distribution and processing, high technology, tobacco, cosmetics, chemical and petroleum products and domestic conglomerates, domestic and international financial institutions, hotel chains, public and private equity investment funds, real estate companies, national retailers, sovereign governments and their agencies, and public and family-owned companies engaged in a wide range of manufacturing and service businesses.

Areas of law
Banking and finance: Our lawyers represent major domestic and international banks, financial institutions and other lenders as well as establishments taking loans from these institutions. We provide legal services for, but not limited to, domestic and international finance transactions, secured and unsecured loans, bond offerings, leasing transactions, preparation of loan agreements (senior, mezzanine and subordinated), syndicated loan documentation, letters of credits and investment procedures. We specialise in asset-based loans, and distressed debt purchases (purchase of non-performing loans).

Capital markets: We provide legal services to domestic and international clients in all aspects of capital markets law, including equity and loan offerings, securitisations, investment funds and provide advice on disclosure and corporate governance matters, corporate and securities regulatory issues and transactional structuring.

Corporate and commercial : We assist our clients with a full range of transactional and general corporate legal services. Our lawyers have extensive experience in the corporate transactions of conglomerates including mergers, spin-offs, spin-ups, divestitures and corporate governance matters where we advise domestic companies on overseas regulations and best practices in board governance responsibilities of directors, relations with shareholders. Our lawyers have broad experience collaborating with their international peers to perform relevant investigations.

Dispute resolution: Our litigation and arbitration practice brings effective solutions to clients in commercial disputes. Avoiding disputes skillfully or, if they cannot be avoided, resolving them in the most effective manner is one of the foundations of our client services. Our lawyers have extensive experience in high profile litigation cases in various business sectors. We frequently advise our clients in cross-border litigations or arbitrations and high profile litigations. We have represented government agencies and semi-independent state institutions and sovereign governments before international courts and international arbitration forums.

Employment: We provide legal services to our clients in various labour and employment matters, including without limitation reviewing and drafting employment contracts and providing general advice on labor relations practices. As we have been trained for long years with multi-jurisdictional culture our lawyers advise to minimise the risk to avoid potential disputes. The range of services provided include the preparation of top-executives service contracts to the issues applied to the workers; employee benefits, stock options etc.

Energy: We have a vibrant energy practice representing an array of clients on transactions that span the globe.  Our energy practice covers oil, gas and petrochemicals; renewable energy, and electrical power.

Özel & Özel represents a wide range of clients including Sovereign Governments, government agencies, international oil and gas companies, electricity generation and distribution corporations. We assist them with joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, divestures, issuance of bonds, corporate restructuring, project and lease financings, structured financings and other energy related transactions.

Family businesses: We provide services to regulate management and ownership arrangements within family businesses, particularly in relation to the transfer of shares and protecting the family business from inevitable circumstances such as: death, bankruptcy or divorce or separation of significant shareholders. As well as domestic succession issues, we also advise on cross-border succession.

At certain occasions although relevant measures have been taken disputes can arise in relation to family businesses. We advise on all types of contentious matters in relation to family businesses.

Information technology: We provide advice on software, licensing and on-line shopping laws and provide assistance in the on-line gaming industry. Our lawyers advise investors of all classes including seed investors and angel investors to venture capitals in the domestic start-ups and assist these start-ups in their route to public offerings in foreign exchanges. We closely follow up the rapidly changing legal environment in this field and advise its clients timely.

Mergers and acquisitions: We provide legal services to multinational and domestic investors for domestic or international mergers and acquisitions in connection with the review of the legal standing of companies; determination of the terms and conditions of acquisitions; preparation of documentation and participation in the negotiations; obtaining regulatory approvals; and completion of transactions. We have represented public companies and multi-shareholder organizations assuming the role of either a seller or a purchaser in large scale and transactions. We represent multi-shareholder corporations in the sale of their entire shares to third parties, we assist in the gathering of a couple of hundred of shareholders in harmony and conclude the deal at the satisfaction of each and every shareholder.

Private equity: For more than a decade we have provided legal services to domestic and international private equity houses across a broad range of industries in structuring the incoming investment and outgoing proceeds.

Project finance and infrastructure: Özel & Özel has been advising various parties involved in large infrastructure projects whilst leading project sponsors, lenders, equipment suppliers, infrastructure funds and public sector entities in an efficient and practical way. Having represented governmental agencies on numerous occasions we understand the pressures and obstacles our clients face in financing and structuring complex projects. We have advised clients in large energy projects, port privatizations, infrastructure transactions, railways, airports, etc.

Real estate: Özel & Özel has extensive experience of all forms of real estate transactions in a wide range of transaction types from acquisition, construction and development, leasing, financing transaction schemes and the sale of real estates, lands, office buildings, shopping centers, hotels etc.