Category: Turkiye

Moral, Kinikoglu, Pamukkale, Kokenek has advised the shareholders of Univera on the sale of the company to Param.

Univera is a software company producing end-to-end corporate technology solutions in the sales, logistics, and service sectors.

Param is a Turkish electronic money institution.

The Moral, Kinikoglu, Pamukkale, Kokenek team included Managing Partner Resat Moral, Partner Serra Haviyo, Associate Egemen Akyol, and Trainee Lawyer Kayra Menekse.

Moral, Kinikoglu, Pamukkale, Kokenek could not provide further information on the matter.

Moral, Kinikoglu, Pamukkale, Kokenek has advised the minority shareholders of Turquoise Yachts on the sale of their shares to MB UAE Investments.

Turquoise Yachts, formerly known as Proteksan Turquoise, was established in 1997. It is a luxury yacht builder.

MB UAE Investments, an affiliate of the energy MB Holding Company, is active in the drilling and oilfield sector, exploration and production of oil and gas, and oil and marine-related engineering services.

Back in 2020, Moral, Kinikoglu, Pamukkale, Kokenek advised the shareholders of Turquoise Yachts on the sale of a 40% stake in the company to the Al Barwani Group (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on August 28, 2020).

The Moral, Kinikoglu, Pamukkale, Kokenek team included Managing Partner Resat Moral, Senior Partner Serkan Pamukkale, Senior Associate Dilara Kaymaz, Lawyer Selen Akgun, and Trainee Lawyer Dilara Atilgan.

Moral, Kinikoglu, Pamukkale, Kokenek could not provide further information on the deal.

The Aksan Law Firm has advised Istanbul-based vehicle telemetry company Iugo Technology on receiving an investment from the Koc Group’s Otokoc Otomotiv.

According to Otokoc Otomotiv, the company is “Turkey’s leading automotive retailer, car rental, and car sharing company,” providing service at nearly 400 points in nine countries, including Turkey, Greece, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Cyprus, and Iraq.

According to the firm, “Iugo Technology specializes in safe driving through its business model, which combines driver behavior scoring with a system that transforms vehicle tracking dynamics into a driver habit learning model.”

The Aksan team included Partner Alper Onar, Managing Associate Emre Subasi, and Senior Associate Merve Kutukcuoglu Karpuzcu.

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

Turunc has advised Bogazici Ventures in its USD 600,000 investment in Artiwise.

Artiwise is an AI and NLP-based voice of the customer solutions provider.

Bogazici Ventures is a Turkish Capital Markets Board-regulated venture capital fund focused primarily on fintech, health tech, retail tech, and gaming.

Recently, Turunc advised Bogazici Ventures on investments in Perculus (reported by CEE Legal Matters on October 20, 2022), Dojo Talent (reported by CEE Legal Matters on January 24, 2023), UP School (reported by CEE Legal Matters on January 30, 2023), and Nureply (reported by CEE Legal Matters on February 2, 2023).

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

Dentons and its Turkish affiliate Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki Attorney Partnership have advised the lenders on a USD 201.5 million and EUR 353.4 million dual-currency loan to Yapi ve Kredi Bankasi.

Established in 1944, Yapi Kredi is a nationwide commercial bank in Turkey and the fourth-largest publicly owned bank in the country.

The BASEAK team included Partner Gunhan Yalcin, Counsel Ceyda Aydin, and Associate Ceren Koksoy. The Dentons team included London-based Partner James Ingham and Senior Associate James Ogden.

BASEAK did not reply to our inquiry on the matter.

Turunc has advised the Arya Women Investment Platform on its investment in Teleporter.

Teleporter is a Turkey and US-based start-up working on building a gamer metaverse using augmented reality and virtual reality.

The Arya Women Investment Platform is an investment group focused on women founders. It invested in Teleporter through its Turkish Capital Markets Board-regulated venture capital fund, co-managed by Arya Women and Maxis Asset Management. Maxis is owned by Is Yatiriım, 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.

Turunc was unable to provide additional information on the deal.

The Aksan Law Firm has advised APY Ventures on leading an investment round into Ankara-based autonomous mobile robot company Milvus Robotics.

Milvus Robotics is a Turkish autonomous mobile robot company specializing in intralogistics for factories and warehouses.

APY Ventures is a Turkey-based venture capital firm focused on investing in early-stage technology start-ups.

According to the target’s press release, “this initial investment serves as a stepping stone to the exciting opportunities that lie ahead for Milvus Robotics. The company is actively preparing for upcoming large-scale investments to further fuel its growth and accelerate its innovation in the material transport domain.” The company has raised USD 600,000 to date.

“Milvus Robotics’ vision is to revolutionize the field of autonomous robotics and transform material transport operations globally,” Co-Founder and CEO Samil Ozden commented. “With the investment we have secured and the forthcoming funding rounds, we are determined to accelerate our sales and marketing efforts, focusing on key markets such as the US and Europe. Additionally, we will allocate resources to strengthen our technical support and research and development teams. We are pleased to have completed the initial investment round in partnership with APY Ventures, a renowned investor in deep technology. Their expertise and support will be invaluable as we continue on our growth trajectory.”

Most recently, Aksan had also advised APY Ventures on its investment in Turkish autonomous robot developer Saha Robotik (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on May 17, 2023). 

The Aksan team was led by Partner Alper Onar and included Managing Associate Emre Subasi and Senior Associate Merve Kutukcuoglu Karpuzcu.

Aksan did not reply to our inquiry on the matter.

Former ELIG Gurkaynak Senior Associate Cigdem Gizem Okkaoglu has joined Gunay Erdogan Attorneys at Law as a Partner in Ankara.

According to Gunay Erdogan, Okkaoglu is an “engineer and a lawyer” and “currently deals with antitrust & regulations, corporate law, technology law, cybersecurity law, aerospace law, intellectual property law, investment law, international trade, sanctions, and export control.”

Prior to joining Gunay Erdogan, Okkaoglu spent over a year and a half with ELIG Gurkaynak Attorneys-at-Law as a Senior Associate and, earlier, almost a year with Dentons Turkey affiliate Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki. Before that, she spent almost five years with the Turkish Competition Authority as a competition expert and enforcement officer. Since 2023, she is also a Co-Founder of hukukteknolojisi.com, a platform aimed at building the legal tech ecosystem in Turkey.

“Cigdem Gizem Okkaoglu will be an invaluable addition to the team with her multi-disciplinary background and enriched perspective gained at a regulatory authority and also at BigLaw firms,” Gunay Erdogan announced.

With the Regulation Amending the Regulation on Remote Identification Methods to be Used by Banks and Establishment of the Contractual Relationship on Electronic Medium [“Amendment“] [available only in Turkish] published by the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency [“BRSA“] in the Official Gazette dated 25.05.2023 and numbered 32201, the scope of persons who may use remote identification services has been expanded.

The Amendment has entered into force as of 1st of June 2023.

The remote identification system, which entered the Turkish legal system with the Regulation on Remote Identification Methods to be Used by Banks and Establishment of Contractual Relationship on Electronic Medium [“Regulation“] [available only in Turkish] published in the Official Gazette dated 01.04.2021 and numbered 31441, plays an important role in speeding up banking transactions and making Türkiye stand out in the service sector in the international arena. In this article, we have discussed how the scope of the Regulation has been changed with the Amendment.

A More Inclusive Service Approach

With the Amendment, new rules have been introduced to enable persons with disabilities to benefit from remote identification services. Accordingly, the checks to be carried out in the identification processes will be designed and implemented taking into account various disabilities. In addition, persons with disabilities will be able to receive the assistance of third parties during video calls, should they need it. The Amendment will be of great convenience for the persons with disabilities who wish to benefit from these services.
Legal Entities Also Included in the Scope

The representatives of legal entities are now able to have their identity established in accordance with the procedure for the identification of natural persons. Further, if the legal representative is a previous customer of that bank and has already been identified, the identification will be assumed to be completed. The authority of the person to represent the legal entity will be confirmed through MERSIS and/or the Trade Registry Gazette. The information provided by the person about the legal entity will be confirmed via matching the information in MERSIS, the Trade Registry Gazette and the database of the Revenue Administration.

Finally, the Regulation imposes an obligation on banks to take the necessary measures to reveal the ultimate beneficiary of the legal entity during the process of identification. In this context, the ultimate beneficiary, as defined in the Regulation on Measures to Prevent Laundering Proceeds of Crime and Financing of Terrorism published in the Official Gazette dated 09.01.2008 and numbered 26751, is “the real person or persons who ultimately control or have ultimate influence over the real persons who carry out transactions before the obligee, the real person, legal entity or unincorporated entities on whose behalf transactions are carried out”.

The Next Step: Remote Identification with Artificial Intelligence

With the additional article included in the Regulation, the legal infrastructure for regulations that will keep pace with the rapid development of the banking sector was also prepared. Accordingly, the BRSA is authorized to determine the procedures and principles regarding the use of artificial intelligence-based methods for the transactions to be performed by the customer representative. It is now made clear that the banking sector will benefit from the latest technologies and that there is an expectation that there will be a development in this direction.

Conclusion

The banking sector, one of the most important pillars of the service sector, will be able to address a wider customer pool with the development of remote identification systems. With the entry into force of the Amendment on 1st of June 2023, it will be easier for disabled individuals to use the system, legal entities are also able to benefit from the remote identification system, and this Amendment paves the way for the integration of developments in artificial intelligence into banking systems.

By Yasemin Keskin, Senior Associate, Guleryuz & Partners

Dentons Turkish affiliate Balcioglu Selcuk Ardiyok Keki Attorney Partnership has advised Revo Capital on its investment in FileOrbis.

According to the firm, “FileOrbis brings immense value to the market by enabling digital transformation and addressing critical file management challenges faced by businesses today. With its intelligent content management platform, FileOrbis offers a centralized hub for secure file storage, organization, search, retrieval, and sharing across diverse file types.”

Revo Capital is a venture capital fund investing in seed and early-stage technology ventures in Turkey and CEE.

Back in April, BASEAK had also advised Revo Capital on its investment in secure browser services and zero-trust threat prevention technology company DefensX (as reported by CEE Legal Matters on April 11, 2023).

The BASEAK team included Partner Okan Arican and Associates Dilruba Guldogan, Simge Yilmaz, and Efe Ozen.