Competition Authority has updated the guidelines applicable to merger and acquisition transactions following the amendments introduced to Communiqué No. 2010/4 Concerning the Mergers and Acquisitions Requiring the Approval of the Competition Authority (“Communiqué”)
As previously announced, the Communiqué was amended in February 2026, introducing significant increases to the turnover thresholds requiring approval from the Competition Authority for the validity of merger and acquisition transactions. Our detailed announcement on the relevant amendments is available
here.
In this context, several guidelines concerning merger and acquisition reviews have also been revised in order to reflect the amendments introduced by the Communiqué.
Which Guidelines Have Been Updated?
The key amendments introduced under the revised guidelines are summarized below:
Guideline on Cases Considered as Mergers and Acquisitions and the Concept of Control
- It has been clarified that the rule whereby multiple transactions carried out within a three-year period between the same persons or parties, or by the same undertaking in the same relevant product market, are deemed a single transaction for turnover calculation purposes, also applies to joint venture establishment transactions.
Guideline on Relevant Undertakings, Turnover and Ancillary Restraints in Mergers and Acquisitions
- It has been stated that two or more transactions conducted within a three-year period between the same persons or parties, or by the same undertaking in the same relevant product market, shall be considered as a single transaction for turnover calculation purposes; and that the relevant three-year period shall start from the date on which the notification is first registered by the Competition Authority.
- Additional explanations have been introduced regarding which undertakings will qualify as the “relevant undertaking” in transactions involving the acquisition of joint control in joint venture assessments.
- It has been clarified that sales generated in Türkiye must also be included in the calculation of worldwide turnover.
- Specific principles regarding the determination of Turkish turnover in transactions involving technology companies have been introduced.
Guideline on the Assessment of Horizontal Mergers and Acquisitions / Guideline on the Assessment of Non-Horizontal Mergers and Acquisitions
- The principles governing the assessment of potential coordinated effects arising from joint ventures between parent undertakings have been further elaborated.
You may access the relevant announcement published by the Competition Authority in Turkish
here.
Aslı Kınsız, Managing Associate
Sevim Özkan, Associate