Atayilmaz Enkür Çetinkaya Öner (AECO) Law Office

Corporate, Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity, Corporate Restructuring and Reorganizations and Insurance

Partner

Gokhan Enkur is an experienced corporate lawyer specialising in M&A and private equity with a primary focus on regulated industries, including insurance and energy. Throughout his career, Gokhan has advised various multi-national companies with respect to their transactions and investments in Turkey and abroad. Before he co-founded PAE Law Office (PAE) in 2010 and Atayılmaz Enkur Cetinkaya Oner Law Office (AECO) in 2024, Gokhan worked at Denton Wilde Sapte (now known as Dentons), a top-tier London-based international law firm, for nearly a decade and was involved in a multitude of highly sophisticated, cross-border transactions. In addition to his wide-ranging expertise in corporate and commercial law, Gokhan is particularly focused on life insurance and pensions, bancassurance and insurance brokerage, and has significant expertise in regulated industries. During his career, Gokhan was seconded to Shell and Cigna, two of the world’s largest multinational corporations. At Shell, Gokhan’s role was to support Shell in the post-completion phase of a spin-off, and at Cigna he advised Cigna with respect to its entry and expansion in the Turkish insurance, health and pension markets.

Gokhan holds an LL.M degree from the University of Chicago Law School, IL, USA and a Law Degree from Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey. Gokhan is also a graduate of Uskudar American Academy in Istanbul, Turkey. In addition to Turkish, he is fluent in English.

Gokhan is also the co-author of the Turkish Chapter in Sourcing World, Thomson Reuters European Lawyer References Series.

Gokhan has been recognized by numerous industry publications, including The Legal 500 EMEA (has been recognized as a “Recommended Lawyer” for Commercial, Corporate and M&A, Energy, Insurance and Restructuring and Insolvency: 2014-2025); IFLR 1000 (has been recognized as a “Rising Star” and “Notable Practitioner” for Corporate and M&A) (2015-2024); and Lexology/ WWL (has been recognized as a “Leading Lawyer” for M&A and Governance) (2017-2025).

Recent Case Highlights:

Advised Cigna Corporation in the sale of its 51% stake in Cigna Sağlık Hayat ve Emeklilik A.Ş. to QNB Finansbank. Advised Hoshizaki Corporation in its acquisition of a 51% stake in Oztiryakiler, Turkey’s leading industrial kitchen manufacturer. Represented Maticmind S.p.A. in its acquisition of a 100% stake in Pagetel, a Turkish turnkey portable shelter manufacturer and designer for military purposes, from General Dynamics Corporation. Advised Montana Group and Aluflexpack AG in relation to its acquisitions of Turkey’s two leading packaging companies, namely Teko Aluminyum (in 2022 and 2024) and Arimpeks Aluminyum (in 2018 and 2021). Advised Victoria PLC in relation to the acquisition of a 100% stake in Graniser Seramik and B3 Ceramics from Bancroft 3LP and EBRD (in 2022) and its exit from Graniser Seramik (in 2024) Advised Lockton in its acquisition of a 100% stake in Omni in two tranches (in 2018 and 2022), its acquisition of a minority stake in Integra (2016) and its exit from Integra (in 2024) Advised Vera Capital and the senior management team of Elkon Elektrik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. in relation the sale of Elkon’s 85% stake to Schottel Group. Advised (as leading counsel) Vera Capital within the scope of a management buy-out in Elkon Elektrik which resulted in the acquisition of 100% stake in the target company owned by RH Marine Group B.V. Advised the individual shareholders of Epsilon Kompozit Teknoloji ve Savunma Sanayi Anonim Şirketi in the sale of a 51% stake to Akkök Holding and its group companies. Advised the existing shareholders of Big Chefs on the proposed sale of 40% of their shares to LuxChef S.a. (Taxim Capital Partners) Advised Cigna Corporation in relation to Cigna Group’s proposed acquisition of Express Scripts with a transaction value of USD 67 billion.

 

English

Istanbul Bar Association, the University of Chicago Alumni Club, Uskudar American Academy (UAA) Alumni Association

The University of Chicago Law School, IL, USA (LLM), 2009

Istanbul University Law School (LLB), 2005

Uskudar American Academy