The Turkish M&A market never lacked surprises or activity and has always been one to watch, even at times when other markets were navigating doldrums. The rest of 2022 and 2023 are not likely to be exceptions and there is certainly room to be optimistic in terms of increased activity.

The labor markets have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic globally and Turkey had its fair share of lockdowns, economic downturns, and unprecedented shifts in the business landscape. One of these structural changes in, and challenges for, the Turkish market is remote working.

Turkey, a G20 country, has been experiencing an increase in energy demand with its high-speed economic and population growth which makes it even more dependent on energy imports for primary energy sources. To ensure the security of its energy supply, Turkey has set its mind to increase the share of renewable energy resources, as per its renewable energy and energy efficiency action plans. That being said, besides other obstacles, the country’s priority target cannot be achieved without an innovative financing resource.

In the past few years, Turkey has experienced a veritable tech miracle. A swath of start-ups, primarily in the gaming and e-commerce sectors, has attracted multi-billion-dollar investments and achieved record valuations. Two companies have even reached decacorn status – a valuation of over USD 10 billion.

An in-depth look at Alexandra Doytchinova of Schoenherr covering her career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer as well as a few insights about her as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

ESG initiatives are rapidly becoming the status quo in the business world. Most corporations have some kind of sustainability measures in place in at least one of the three pillars – environmental, social, or governance. The majority of businesses in Bulgaria currently implement ESG projects voluntarily, indicating that stakeholders are not legally required to, for instance, incorporate climate mitigation and social responsibility initiatives into their organizations. But ESG trends aren’t going unnoticed by the regulators and ESG is gradually transforming into a compliance matter. However, beyond compliance, ESG lays the foundation for a competitive corporate strategy, positive climate action, and the discovery of new business opportunities.

Bulgaria is making significant efforts to boost the share of renewables in its energy mix and reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. The new REPowerEU Plan provides for a massive scaling-up and speeding-up of renewable energy in power generation, industry, buildings, etc.

The year 2021 effectively brought back the Bulgarian capital market into the spotlight of public interest. Seven IPOs were listed on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE), raising a total of EUR 12 million, which is the highest number of offerings in 15 years, going back to the period before the 2008 financial crisis. There is only one reason for this development: the rise of the SME Growth Market – beam – where all said IPOs have taken place.

Recent decades have witnessed economic turmoil, crises, recessions, inflation surges across the world, and, lately, the long-lasting effects of the pandemic globally. During these downturns, the issue of financial restructuring has surfaced as a key concern of policymakers, financial institutions, and market players.

For the last few years, and especially since the second half of 2021, Turkey has been struggling with an ever-growing financial and economic crisis. Dubbed as one of the “Fragile Five” economies in financial circles, the country has long been seen as a developing economy with a high degree of dependence on foreign investment and US monetary policy, limiting its power to control and contain financial emergencies.

An in-depth look at Nazif Karatas of Nazali Attorney Partnership covering his career path, education, and top projects as a lawyer as well as a few insights about him as a manager at work and as a person outside the office.

Lawyers know that business development requires a handful of sales skills, a pinch of luck, and a boatload of persistence. Freaking BD persistence… it’s a serious problem for all of us. We didn’t go to law school to do sales.

Kosovo’s legal order is based on the principle of separation of powers, whereby the judiciary is governed by the Kosovo Judicial Council. Kosovo’s legal system is based on the continental law tradition, whereby court decisions are generally not considered precedents, although lower courts tend to follow the opinions and rulings of higher courts.

The position of consumers has been strengthened by a recent Supreme Court resolution by which the courts are obligated, within enforcement proceedings initiated against consumers, to examine, of their own motion (ex officio) whether an enforceable title contains unfair provisions. The resolution only relates to enforceable titles that have not been previously reviewed by a court, primarily agreements concluded in the form of directly enforceable notarial deeds.The resolution of the Supreme Court represents a further step in the protection of consumers with regard to unfair clauses as regulated by Council Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts (UCTD). It is in line with the Guidance on the interpretation and application of the UCTD and the respective decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

Diligent planning and proper execution of an acquisition is a significant step leading to a successful completion of an M&A transaction. This is especially true when an acquisition takes place in uncertain economic times. The current dynamic situation in Poland, including rising inflation and spiraling interest rates largely driven by post-pandemic demand and the war in Ukraine, means that investors need to react quickly, yet very carefully when structuring a deal. 

Commercial disputes, especially complex commercial cases, are increasingly present in modern regional and Serbian arbitration practices. There are more and more international and local business contracts in which the contracting parties fully trust international and domestic arbitrations to resolve all disputes arising from such contracts.

On October 26, 2021, the General Assembly of the Supreme Court of Cassation issued Interpretative Judgment No. 5/2019, clarifying what procedure employers must follow with respect to employee layoffs on the grounds of “closure of part of the enterprise,” which at present is frequently utilized in the context of companies’ mergers and acquisitions.

As the main arbitration body in Romania sees an increase in disputes caused by the long-lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent financial crisis, claimants and respondents who file arbitration claims/counterclaims may need to turn to third-party funding for the disputes to cover the arbitral expenses.