Kolcuoglu Demirkan Koçakli

Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate and Commercial, Banking and Finance, Capital Markets

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.

Umut is the Firm’s founder and managing partner. He was an associate lawyer in a major Istanbul-based law firm between 1998 and 2000 and again between 2003 and 2005. He was seconded to and worked with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, New York in 2002. He also worked as a foreign associate with German law firm, Hengeler Mueller, in Frankfurt, between 2005 and 2006 and, subsequently, founded the Firm in 2007.

He is a columnist for Turkey’s leading economy newspapers, Nasıl Bir Ekonomi Gazetesi (https://www.ekonomim.com) and TR Monitor (https://www.trmonitor.net/) where he writes a column on business and commercial law matters. He is the author of “Mandatory Tender Offers in Capital Market Law,” (Vedat Publications, April 2009).

English, German, Turkish

Board Member of Boyner Group; Member of the Board of Trustees of Turkish Entrepreneurship Foundation; Advisory Board Member of Istanbul Bilgi University School of Law; New York Bar Association; Istanbul Bar Association; International Bar Association (IBA); Turkish Corporate Governance Association (TKYD); Turkish-British Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TBCCI); German-Turkish Chamber of Industry (AHK).

Istanbul University School of Law (Ph.D. in Corporate Law and Capital Market Law, 2009); New York University School of Law (LL.M. in Corporate Law, 2001); Istanbul University School of Law (LL.B.,1998); Sankt Georg Austrian High School (1994).