A recent law proposal which provides significant changes to the Law on Regulation of Broadcasts via Internet and Prevention of Crimes Committed through Such Broadcasts ("Law No. 5651") has been published on Grand National Assembly of Turkey's ("TBMM") website yesterday ("Proposal"). The Proposal mainly introduces obligations on social network providers with over 1 million daily access from Turkey.

Turunc and Cooley have advised US-based private equity fund Riverwood Capital on its investment in Insider, a growth management platform for digital marketers. Riverwood led the USD 32 million investment round, which included participation from Sequoia, Wamda, and Endeavor Catalyst. 

The Turunc Law Firm has advised a group of private investors led by Cetin Yilmaz on their acquisition of MCI's majority stake in online travel agency Tatilbudur from Polish private equity fund MCI. The Yalcin Babalioglu Kemahli Attorney Partnership advised MCI on the deal, while Akol Law advised shareholder Is Girisim. Tatilbudur was reportedly advised by Yondem Yigit Uclertopragi.

The Turunc Law Firm, working alongside Travers Smith, has represented Micro Focus in its acquisition of Atar Labs from founders Burak Dayioglu, Murat Tora, and Gokhan Say and investor Diffusion Capital Partners. The sellers were represented by Caliskan Okkan Toker.

Cakmak has advised Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg and KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH on the financing of 132 MW Phase 2 investment in Lodos Karaburun Elektrik Uretim A.S’s wind farm in the Izmir province of Turkey.

BTS & Partners has advised QNBeyond Ventures, the venture arm of QNB Finansbank, on an unspecified investment in cloud-based accounting software and financial application platform Kolaybi. The Uysal Law Firm reportedly advised Kolaybi's shareholders, including its founders and HUB Venture Capital.

The long-lasting bill of Law on The Act on the Protection of Competition (The Competition Act) was ratified by Turkish Parliement on 06.16.2020. This amendment is the most extensive reform of antitrust enforcement system since the enactment of the Competition Act in 1994. The most significant changes are explained below:

On 28 June 2020 issue of official gazette Turkey Payment and Electronic Money Association Statute is published and with that Turkey Payment and Electronic Money Association is formed. Pursuant to Article 7 of this statute, “All payment and electronic money institutions are obliged to become a member of the association within one month after obtaining an operating license. Organizations that do not fulfill this obligation by the association shall be notified to the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey."

On June 10, 2020, CEE Legal Matters reported that Allen & Overy and Gedik & Eraksoy had advised on an ESG-linked syndicated loan facility for Turkey’s Garanti BBVA. We spoke to Ebru Dildar Edin, Executive Vice-President at Garanti BBVA, to learn more about the facility.

The articles of the Turkish Code of Obligations No.6098 (‘’TCO’’) had been postponed for workplaces lease agreements. It will be entering into force on July 1,2020 for office leases. The articles of the TCO will come into effect if not postponed again. This is known to cause considerable effects to the ongoing office lease agreements.

BTS & Partners has advised the Growth Circuit venture capital firm on an unspecified investment in Invidyo — a developer of child monitoring devices that rely on artificial intelligence.

After rounds of revisions and failed attempts of enactment over a span of several years, the proposal for an amendment to the Law No. 4054 on Protection of Competition (“Law no. 4054”) (“Amendment Proposal”) has finally been approved by the Turkish parliament, namely the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, yesterday.

BTS & Partners has advised the shareholders of mobile payment and bank transfer service provider Payguru on the sale of 100% of its shares to Tpay Mobile. Norton Rose Fulbright London and the Inal Kama Attorney Partnership advised Tpay Mobile on the deal.

Allen & Overy and Gedik & Eraksoy have advised Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of America as arrangers of an ESG-linked syndicated loan facility for Turkey’s Garanti BBVA.

Fintech is described by the Financial Stability Board (FSB) as “technology-enabled innovation in financial services that could result in new business models, applications, processes or products with an associated material effect on the provision of financial services”. Fintech companies of all sort, have so far triggered a remarkable transformation in the provision of financial services. The impacts of this ongoing transformation on market structure is inevitable, as these companies are growing as new market players.

White & Case and its associated Turkish firm, GKC Partners, have advised interactive entertainment company Zynga Inc. on its USD 1.8 billion acquisition of Istanbul-based Peak Oyun Yazilim ve Pazarlama, A.S. Baker McKenzie, working with its Turkish affiliate, the Esin Attorney Partnership, advised Peak on the transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2020.

BTS & Partners has advised Turkish logistics company Yolda and its founders on their receipt of an investment of USD 835,000 from Collective Spark, an investment fund focusing on tech companies, and various angel investors. Ilhanli Baser advised Collective Spark on the investment.

Recently, the spread of COVID-19 has been classified as a “pandemic” by the World Health Organization. With the global contagion of the epidemic, rumors have appeared regarding the development of new medicines and vaccines in Turkey, as everywhere else, and this situation has caused much misleading news and information to be published by the media and on the Internet.