Following the recent developments in the Turkish economy, the number and level of mergers and acquisitions increased in 2005. After a long and drawn-out process, the sale of Turkish state-owned entities such as Turk Telekom, Tupras (the leading state-owned oil refineries), and Erdemir (the state-owned iron-steel monopoly) were finally completed.
Fifty-five percent of Turk Telekom shares were sold for $6.5 billion to Oger Telekom (Saudi and Italian joint venture); 51% Tupras shares for $4.14 billion to Koc-Shell joint venture, and 46% Erdemir shares for $2.8 billion to Oyak Group. The private sector mergers and acquisitions were also notable, where, for example, Italian Unicredito and its Turkish partner Koç Holding acquired Yapi Kredi Bank, the fourth largest bank in Turkey. Disbank, owned by Dogan Group, was sold to Dutch Fortis Bank for $1.3 billion. Turkey also witnessed the acquisition of Garanti Bank shares by General Electric and tender of Telsim, the...