Divjak Topic Bahtijarevic & Krka and Tus & Grzic have advised Prvo Plinarsko Drustvo and INA, respectively, on the sale of their stakes in joint-venture company Terra Mineral Fertilizer to the Yildirim Group. CMS advised the Yildirim Group.

Contributed by KP Law.

Dentons Turkish affiliate Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki Attorney Partnership advised APY Ventures on its investment in Sorwe.

The Draft Regulation Amending the Regulation on Bank Cards and Credit Cards ("Draft Regulation") was published on the website of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency ("BRSA") on 28/10/2022 to receive sector and public opinions.

Akol Law has advised EIS Eczacibasi Ilac on its USD 135 million acquisition of Gensenta from the Amgen Group. Baker McKenzie Turkish affiliate Esin Attorney Partnership advised the seller.

Akol Law has advised Paket Mutfak on its USD 3 million seed investment round from Nokta Yatirim, Kadri Samsunlu, and Ersan Ozturk, alongside existing investors. The Surmen Law Firm reportedly advised Nokta Yatirim.

Ilker & Colak has advised the Yildizlar Group on its collaboration with Enercon for the high-volume capacity extension project for the Gulpinar Wind Farm.

Turkish lawyer Asli Yildiz has joined S4 Capital Group as its Head of Legal - Global Privacy in London.

Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102 [“TCC”] stipulates that the carrier shall be liable for the damages caused by the loss, damage or delay of delivery of commodity within the period from the takeover of commodity for carriage to delivery of it. The legal nature of the carrier's liability in this context is strict liability. This means that even if the carrier has no fault in incurrence of damages, they should still be liable. However, this liability is not absolute. As a matter of fact, the carrier can be released from liability on the grounds set out in the law or by proving that they have taken the greatest care.

Former Loomis Turkey Legal Affairs & Compliance Manager Nihat Ozbek has joined Guleryuz Partners as a Partner.

Bezen & Partners has advised the EBRD on its EUR 75 million loan to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality for the construction of the Goztepe-Atasehir-Umraniye metro line in Istanbul.

The main obligation of the transport and logistics companies, i.e., carrier in contracts of carriage is to take the commodity from one place to another and deliver it to the consignee. The carrier is obliged to deliver the commodity in the form and condition in which it was received. Therefore, the carrier also undertakes the obligation to preserve the commodity under its control while performing the contract of carriage.

Law No. 7418 on Amendment of Press Law and Certain Laws (“Amendment Law”) is published in Official Gazette of October 18, 2022 and introduced significant amendments on certain laws including the Press Law No. 5187, the Turkish Criminal Code No. 5237 and the Law No. 5651 on the Regulation of Broadcasts via the Internet and the Prevention of Crimes Committed through Such Broadcast (“Law No. 5651”) and the Law No. 5809 Electronic Communications Law (“Law No. 5809”).

The Turkish Competition Board (“Board”) conditionally approved the acquisition of sole control over Ferro Corporation (“Ferro”) by American Securities LLC (“American Securities”) through its solely controlled affiliate ASP Prince Holdings Inc. (“Prince”). The Board determined that the transaction would result in the significant impediment of effective competition in the market for glass coatings for home appliances in Turkey. That being said, the Board conditionally approved the transaction subject to the commitments submitted by the parties to the European Commission (“Commission”) on the grounds that the commitments removed the entire horizontal overlap between the parties in the horizontally affected markets in Turkey. 

The Law on the Amendment of Press Law numbered 7418 and Some Other Laws [“Amendment Law”] published in the Official Gazette No. 31987 dated October 18, 2022. While the amendments adopted mainly in the Press Law significantly expand the scope of this law, the Amendment Law also includes new regulations with regard to online news tools, the number of which are increasing day by day as opposed to printed media.

With the Draft Communique on Principles Regarding Companies Whose Shares Will Be Traded on the Venture Capital Market [“Draft Communique”] published in the Official Gazette on 20 September 2022, it will be possible to sell shares of a non-public joint stock company to qualified investors on the stock with the status of a public company. The Draft Communique also regulates the liabilities and exemptions of such companies. It is expected to enter into force soon following collecting public opinion.

Dentons Turkish affiliate Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki Attorney Partnership has advised Qnbeyond Ventures on its investment in FirstBatch.

This case summary includes an analysis of the Ankara 2nd Administrative Court’s (“the Court of First Instance”) Sahibinden SoE decision (E. 2022/254, 15.04.2022) in which the Court of First Instance stays of execution of the Board’s decision where the Board imposed an administrative monetary fine on Sahibinden for hindering and complicating the on-site inspection as per Article 16 of the Law No 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Law No 4054”) based on the grounds that the deleted WhatsApp messages did not contain business related issues and were still accessible from the other employees’ WhatsApp group (21-27/354-174, 27.05.2021).