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 90 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 two partners, five 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.

In addition to 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 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 minimize 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 85 merger clearances by the Turkish Competition Authority, more than 35 defense project investigations, and over 15 antitrust appeals before the administrative courts. ELIG Gürkaynak also provided more than 75 antitrust education seminars to employees of its clients.

ELIG Gürkaynak assisted clients with high profile investigations which resulted in landmark decisions during the past year. One of these cases involved Google, which ELIG Gürkaynak represented through the compliance process of the Turkish Competition Board's Android decision concerning Google's practices and agreements concluded with device manufacturers related to the provision of mobile operating system and mobile application and services. The Turkish Competition Board ultimately decided that Google fully complied with the obligations imposed by the Board's Android decision.

In terms of merger control filings, the competition law and antitrust team advised the buyer and seller on the Turkish component of a significant global merger in the power sector. The transaction concerned the proposed acquisition of 100% of the shares in GE Distributed Power, General Electric Austria and Jenbacher International (together with their respective subsidiaries) by funds managed by Advent International Corporation, from General Electric Company. The transaction aimed to combine GE's distributed power business' market position with Advent's support of committed and experienced investors.

The firm also efficiently and successfully defended Mercedes-Benz in a number of investigations including (i) a full-fledged investigation into abuse of dominance allegations in the market of trucks allowing the mounting of concrete pumps, which was closed without finding a violation or fine, (ii) a preliminary investigation relating to discrimination/favouritism allegations against certain dealers, which the Turkish Competition Board closed without further action, and (iii) a preliminary investigation into refusal to supply allegations, which the Board closed again without a full-fledged investigation.

In addition to the above, the competition law and antitrust team also provided advice to a broad range of clients including Anheuser-Busch InBev, Turkish Airlines, 3M, Medtronic, Pfizer, Goodyear, Bridgestone, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, IBM, Tronox Limited, Henkel, Celanese Sales Germany, Michelin, KLX and Aerospace Solutions.

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