Volume of M&As Between Turkey and EU Countries Plummets

The volume of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) between Turkish and EU companies (EU-28, including Croatia and United Kingdom) decreased significantly in 2016. This development may possibly be due to political tensions as well as the fact that Turkey's prospects of accession to the European Union have worsened considerably. These are the findings of studies carried out by the Mannheim-based Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) on the basis of the Zephyr database of Bureau van Dijk.

In 2007 the M&A activity between companies in Turkey and the European Union had reached a record high, with a transaction volume of almost 37 billion euros. Over the course of the global financial crisis, however, the transaction volume took a considerable nosedive. After the crisis, the volume increased steadily for a few years, reaching a total of 7.7 billion euros in 2015. In the year 2016, which was marked by the failed coup attempt by a faction of the Turkish armed forces and the controversies surrounding the authoritarian tendencies in Turkey, the country experienced a sharp decrease of over 73 per cent in the overall transaction volume, falling to merely two billion euros.

Compared to the decrease in mergers and acquisitions between Russia and OECD countries, the number of M&As between Turkish and EU companies remained relatively stable: in 2016, the number of transaction still amounted to 21. The greatest number of transactions ever recorded was in 2011, with a total of 37 transactions. As a result of the latest political events surrounding the Crimea crisis, the number of mergers and acquisitions between Russian companies and companies in OECD countries almost came to a complete standstill. The most important sector in terms of the transaction volume recorded in M&As between European and Turkish companies was the banking sector, followed by the utility sector (gas, water, electricity), the chemical industry, the post and telecommunication sector as well as the food industry.

For further information please contact:

Stefan Frübing, Phone +49(0)621/1235-328, E-mail fruebing@zew.de