Category: Turkiye

Turkish lawyer Soley Guzel was appointed by Roche Pharmaceuticals as its Legal Director of Roche Diagnostics Asia-Pacific.

Prior to her appointment, Guzel served as Roche Pharmaceuticals Turkey’s Legal & Sustainability Leader since 2017.

Prior to Roche, Guzel was the Head of Legal and Compliance at Siemens Healthcare. Earlier still, she was a Senior Executive Consultant at Siemens Turkey. She started her legal career in 2001 as a Legal Counsel at Isdemir Demir ve Celik, a member of Erdemir Group.

Originally reported by CEE In-House Matters.

White & Case Turkish affiliate GKC Partners has advised Zurich Insurance Group subsidiary Zurich Sigorta on its acquisition of 99.78% of the issued share capital of Mapfre Yasam Sigorta from Mapfre Sigorta AS.

Mapfre Yasam Sigorta is active in the life insurance market in Turkiye.

According to the firm, Zurich Insurance is a leading multi-line insurance provider with a global network of subsidiaries and offices in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East.

The GKC Partners team included Partner Emre Ozsar, Associates Can Tolga Tezel and Gokcen Durgut, and Legal Trainee Batuhan Akarsu.

The firm did not respond do our inquiry on the matter.

Former TAV Construction Legal Director has joined Samsung Electronics in Istanbul as its Director of Legal Affairs.

Prior to her move, Aydin had been with TAV Construction since January 2023. Before that she worked for Huawei, first joining the company in 2016 as a Senior Legal Counsel. In 2019 she was appointed to Principal Legal Counsel and, in 2021, to General Counsel.

Before moving in-house, Aydin was an Attorney at Law with Orhaner Law Office between 2014 and 2016, Kilic Law Firm between 2012 and 2013, Sakmar Law Office between 2011 and 2012, Sibel Ertekin Law Office between 2006 and 2011, and with Davut Cibili Law Office between 2003 and 2006.

Originally reported by CEE In-House Matters.

The Cetinkaya Law Firm has advised Merzigo on its monetization agreements with the Dogus Media Group and the Fox TV channel.

Merzigo is a video monetization and digital distribution company.

Dogus Media Group is a Turkish media group.

Fox is a television channel broadcasting nationally in Turkey. It is owned by The Walt Disney Company.

“We have been collaborating with Fox for a significant amount of time,” commented Merzigo Chairman Yigit Dogan Celik. “The extension of our agreement once again demonstrates the productivity and trust that define this collaboration for both parties.”

Merzigo stated that this extension will enable it to monetize all of the Fox “content on digital platforms. The renewed agreement spans the next three years, during which Merzigo will take on the responsibility of managing Fox’s entire channel content portfolio on digital channels.”

Additionally, according to Merzigo, its agreement with Dogus “encompasses the effective management of Dogus Dijital’s content on digital platforms, offering new opportunities for both Merzigo and the Dogus Media Group.”

The Cetinkaya Law Firm team was led by Managing Partner Kaan Cetinkaya.

Dentons Turkish affiliate Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki has advised Adsby on its seed funding round led by Inveo Ventures and including KT Portfoy Yonetimi Lonca GSYF and angel investors.

According to BASEAK, Adsby, formerly known as Magnetiq, is an advertising technology start-up dedicated to “developing solutions that empower businesses to excel in online advertising.”

The BASEAK team included Partner Okan Arican and Associate Dilruba Guldogan.

BASEAK did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

Former Guner Law Office Partner Burcak Kurt Bicer and Department Head Can Guner left the team to set up the new Bicer Guner Attorneys-at-Law firm in Istanbul as Partners.

Bicer Guner Attorneys-at-Law positions itself as a full-service independent Turkish law firm.

Managing Partner Bicer focuses on corporate/M&A, banking-finance, employment, data protection, and real estate. She spent almost nine years with the Guner Law Office, starting as a Senior Associate in 2014, becoming a Managing Associate in 2015, and a Partner in 2017. Before that, she was a Senior Associate with Somay Attorneys At Law, where she spent almost ten years. She started her career as an Intern with FortisBank in 2004.

Founding Partner Guner focuses on litigation, IP, labor, compliance, commercial, and white-collar crime matters. He previously spent five and a half years with the Guner Law Office, as a Department Head, starting in 2018. The same year, he spent six months as Chief Legal Counsel for the Teknokon Group. Earlier, he spent six years with ELIG as a Senior Associate. He started his career at what was then Pekin & Bayar in 2009 as an Associate.

“Proud to announce the establishment of Bicer Guner Attorneys-at-Law,” the two Partners announced. “With our exceptional team of experienced, responsive, and hardworking attorneys, we will continue to be your trusted partners under our new structure. We genuinely appreciate your support, and we are eager to embark on this exciting journey with you.”

Clifford Chance and its Turkish affiliate Ciftci Attorney Partnership have advised joint bookrunners BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Securities, Deutsche Bank, Emirates NBD, MUFG Securities EMEA, PNC Capital Markets, and Bank of China (Europe) on the successful USD 800 million offering of 9.50% senior secured notes by WE Soda Holdings Investment.

WE Soda Holdings Investment is a wholly-owned subsidiary of WE Soda, a global player in the soda ash industry. According to Clifford Chance, this transaction represents WE Soda’s inaugural capital markets offering, “the largest debut emerging markets high-yield transaction since 2021, the largest single-tranche offering by a corporate issuer with major operations in Turkey, and the largest offering in the EMEA chemicals sector since 2021.”

The Ciftci team included Istanbul-based Partner Sait Eryilmaz, Senior Associate Ali Can Altiparmak, and Associates Pelinsu Demircan and Bilgesu Cakmak, while Clifford Chance fielded a Lond-based team led by Partner Michael Dakin.

The firms did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.

On October 3, 2023, GKC Partners announced that TotalEnergies Renewables’ acquisition of a 50% stake in Turkey’s Ronesans Enerji (reported by CEE Legal Matters on August 18, 2023) had closed.

Ronesans Enerji is a Turkish energy-generating company operating hydroelectric power stations. Its portfolio currently includes 166 megawatts of hydro assets. It has also secured a pipeline of more than 700 megawatts of wind, photovoltaic, and battery storage assets.

TotalEnergies is a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company founded in 1924 and one of the seven supermajor oil companies. TotalEnergies Renewables aims to be one of the world’s top five renewable electricity producers and to reach 100 gigawatts of gross production capacity by 2030.

As previously reported, GKC Partners advised TotalEnergies Renewables, while the Esin Attorney Partnership advised Ronesans Holding’s Ronesans Yenilenebilir Enerji on the sale. Ronesans Enerji will operate as a 50-50 joint venture run by Ronesans Holding and TotalEnergies.

“We are delighted to join forces with Ronesans, which has developed a diversified portfolio of assets including wind, hydro, and solar power,” TotalEnergies Gas, Renewables & Power President Stephane Michel said. “Given the outlook for the Turkish market and the quality of the renewable sites in the country, we are convinced that this new partnership will be a further step towards our goal of developing our integrated power activity profitably. I’m delighted that it will also help boost Turkey’s renewable energy sector.”

“TotalEnergies’ acquisition of a 50% stake in Ronesans Enerji and their mutual desire to develop renewable projects in Turkiye is a clear indication of the potential and importance of the Turkish renewable energy sector,” commented GKC Partners Partner Emre Ozsar.

The GKC Partners team included Ozsar, Managing Partner Guniz Gokce, Partner Ates Turnaoglu, Tax Advisor Hakan Eraslan, Associates Asli Gulum, Gokcen Durgut, Can Argon, Emrehan Mermer, Lidya Ercan, Segenay Kerimoglu, and Esma Aktas, and Trainees Ayse Ezgi Oner and Batuhan Akarsu.

The Esin Attorney Partnership team was led by Partner Caner Elmas and included Senior Associate Sila Pinar and Associates Batuhan Hamamcioglu and Bertan Baskaya.

Turunc has advised the Arya Women Investment Platform on its investment in Ingosa in a round that also included Dogus Yeni Girisimler, Aegean Ventures, and angel investors from the Arya Angel Investment Network. BATI Lawyers advised Ingosa.

Ingosa is a platform aiming to power customer experience and boost sales with intelligent virtual assistants and conversational display ads.

According to Turunc, the Arya Women Investment Platform is an investment group focused on women founders. “It invested in Ingosa through its Turkish Capital Markets Board-regulated venture capital fund, co-managed by Arya Women and Maxis Asset Management. Maxis is owned by Is Yatirim, the investment bank arm of Isbank, the largest privately-owned bank in Turkey.”

The Turunc team included Managing Partner Kerem Turunc, Partner Esin Camlibel, and Associates Naz Esen, Beste Yildizili Ergul, Ovgu Kopal, and Baran Ezeli.

The BATI Lawyers team included Partner Dogukan Doru Alkan and Managing Associate Selin Selcuk.

The Aksan Law Firm has advised Maxis Founder One on its investment in Varsapp as part of the start-up’s USD 200,000 concluded investment round that also included hiVC GSYO.

Varsapp advertises itself as a platform where people can safely rent others’ unused items and earn money by renting out their items. The company aims to support sustainability by “reducing the purchase of new products through renting goods and ensuring that our users do not experience great financial obstacles while accessing the products they need.”

The Aksan team included Partner Alper Onar and Associate Rezan Bilge Nisli.

Aksan did not respond to our inquiry on the matter.