ELIG Gürkaynak Attorneys-at-Law

ELIG Gürkaynak Attorneys-at-Law is an eminent, independent Turkish law firm based in Istanbul. The firm was founded in 2005.

ELIG Gürkaynak is committed to providing its clients with high-quality legal services. We combine a solid knowledge of Turkish law with a business-minded approach to develop legal solutions that meet the ever-changing needs of our clients in their international and domestic operations.

Our legal team consists of 87 lawyers. We take pride in being able to assist our clients in all fields of law. Our areas of expertise particularly include competition law, corporate law, M&A, contracts law, white collar irregularities and compliance, data protection and cybersecurity law, litigation and dispute resolution, Internet law, technology, media and telecommunications law, intellectual property law, administrative law, real estate law, anti-dumping law, pharma and healthcare regulatory, employment law, and banking and finance law.

As an independent Turkish law firm, ELIG Gürkaynak collaborates with many international law firms on various projects.

Our competition law and regulatory department is led by our partner, Mr. Gönenç Gürkaynak, along with three partners, three counsel and 40 associates. In addition to our unparalleled experience in merger control issues, ELIG Gürkaynak has vast experience in defending companies before the Turkish Competition Board in all phases of antitrust investigations, abuse of dominant position cases, leniency handlings, and before the courts on issues of private enforcement of competition law, along with appeals of the administrative decisions of the Turkish Competition Authority.

Our clients are national and multinational corporations, conglomerates, business associations, financial institutions, partnerships and individuals who are leaders in their market sectors and ELIG Gürkaynak has extensive experience and knowledge of the business implications and legal complexities this brings. The aim of our firm is to deliver pragmatic commercial advice to minimise clients' exposure to competition law risks.

In addition to our strong Turkish competition law practice, our international experience provides us with a high capability in multinational competition law issues. We have particular experience in the European Union competition law regime.

We have extensive experience before the Turkish Competition Authority, and an excellent track record in achieving successful outcomes for our clients. We have an in-depth knowledge of representing defendants and complainants in complex antitrust investigations concerning all forms of abuse of dominant position allegations and restrictive horizontal and/or vertical arrangements. These include price-fixing, retail price maintenance, refusal to supply, territorial restrictions and concerted practice allegations.

During the past year, ELIG Gürkaynak has been involved in over 60 merger clearances by the Turkish Competition Authority, more than 20 defence project investigations, and over 15 antitrust appeals before the administrative courts. ELIG Gürkaynak also provided more than 50 antitrust education seminars to employees of its clients.

In one of the year's largest M&A transactions, ELIG Gürkaynak was retained by GE for acquisition of sole control of Baker Hughes Inc. ELIG Gürkaynak successfully handled the submission of the merger control notification by providing unparalleled legal consultancy particularly in terms of effective coordination of the international legal counsel and client executives.

In a transaction involving nearly 20 jurisdictions, GE plans to acquire sole control of Baker Hughes, creating one of the industry's largest players and bringing together a portfolio of capabilities spanning across oilfield services, equipment manufacturing and technology. The combined entity will be able to reach out to customers through approximately 1,220 locations in 120 countries, improving the delivery of services, technologies and expertise globally.

In addition to the above, ELIG Gürkaynak successfully represented Mey Içki a subsidiary of Diageo plc, following an 18 month investigation, which explored the validity of allegations of abuse of dominance in the Turkish markets for vodka and gin. The Turkish Competition Board found a violation through abuse of dominance but accepted Mey IIçki's defence of "non bis in idem". The Board concluded that Mey Içki should not be subject to an administrative monetary fine under Article 16 of Law No. 4054.

In defence, Mey Içki demonstrated the lack of both procedural and substantial grounds, and emphasized the "non bis in idem" principle, utilizing economic arguments to fortify oral and written defences. Mey Içki successfully argued that the investigation was crippled for double jeopardy as (i) the Turkish Competition Authority carried out a second investigation on the same allegations belonging to the same time period and (ii) it created the risk of repetitive fine.

This decision may set a landmark precedent in terms of the interpretation of the "non bis in idem" principle under the Turkish competition law regime.

In addition to significant antitrust litigation expertise, ELIG Gürkaynak also has considerable expertise in administrative law, and is well equipped to represent clients before the High State Court, both on the merits of a case and for injunctive relief. The firm also advises clients on a day-to-day basis in a wide range of business transactions that almost always contain antitrust law issues, including distributorship, licensing, franchising and toll manufacturing issues.

For further information, please visit www.elig.com or contact our Founding Partner, Gönenç Gürkaynak, by email at gonenc.gurkaynak@elig.com