TÜRKIYE Law and Practice Contributed by: Gönenç Gürkaynak, K Korhan Yıldırım and Görkem Yardım, ELIG Gürkaynak Attorneys-at-Law
3.9 Requests for Information During the Review Process It is common practice for the TCA to send written requests to the parties involved in the transaction and to any other party related to the transaction, or to third parties such as competitors, customers or suppliers. The TCA’s written information requests will cut the review period and restart the 30-day period as of the date on which the responses are submitted. 3.10 Accelerated Procedure Amendment Communiqué also brought a modified notification form that has replaced the current notifi - cation form as of 11 February 2026. According to the modified notification form, a short-form notification (without a fast-track procedure) is available if one of the following applies: • there are no affected markets in Türkiye; • for horizontal overlaps, the total market share of the transaction parties does not exceed 15%; • for vertical overlaps, the market share of one of the parties does not exceed 20%; or • a transition from joint control to sole control is involved. The Turkish merger control regime does not include a fast-track procedure to speed up the clearance pro - cess. Apart from close follow-up with the case han - dlers reviewing the transaction, the parties have no other possible way to speed up the review process. The Amendment Communiqué also introduces proce - dural convenience for acquisitions made by venture capital investment trusts, venture capital investment funds and private equity investment vehicles. In par - ticular, for filings including venture capital investment trusts, venture capital investment funds and private equity investment vehicles or individual participation investors (except for the target), the scope of informa - tion required in the notification form has been stream - lined. They are required to provide only the information relating to Türkiye under Sections 2.2 (information on the activities of the undertakings concerned) and 2.4 (information on the activities of the transaction par - ties) of the notification form. According to the template notification form attached to the Amended Commu - niqué No 2010/4, for such transaction parties, where
questions and adds more time to the review process, as it is advisable to notify the filing at least 60 calendar days before the projected closing. If a notification leads to an investigation (Phase II), it turns into a full-fledged investigation, which takes about six months under Turkish law. If deemed neces - sary, this period may be extended only once – for an additional period of up to six months. 3.8 Pre-Notification Discussions With Authorities Other than privatisation tenders, the Turkish merger control rules do not have a pre-notification mecha - nism. Also, in practice, a filing is seen as a one-sided review by the TCA once a formal one-shot notifica - tion is made. The TCA may issue various information requests, but it will only do so after the notification is made (see 3.6 Penalties/Consequences of Incom- plete or Inaccurate Notification and 3.7 Review Pro- cess ). The filing process differs for privatisation tenders. Amendment Communiqué No 2026/3 on the Amend - ment of Communiqué No 2013/2 on the Procedures and Principles to be Pursued in Pre-Notification and Authorisation Applications to be Filed with the Turk - ish Competition Authority in order for Acquisitions via Privatisation to Become Legally Valid prescribes an additional pre-notification process. This only applies to privatisations in which the turnover of the undertak - ing or asset or unit intended for production of goods or services to be privatised exceeds TRY1 billion (approximately EUR22.4 million or USD25.3 million). For this calculation, sales to public institutions and organisations including local governments made on the basis of a legislative provision should not be taken into account. If the threshold is met, a pre-notification should be filed with the Authority before the public announcement of the tender specifications. The Board will issue an opinion that will serve as the basis for the preparation of the tender specifications. This opinion does not mean that the transaction is cleared. Fol - lowing the tender, the winning bidder will still have to make a merger filing and obtain approval before the Privatisation Administration’s decision on the final acquisition.
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