Emre Özşar
Biography
Overview
Emre is the head of our Mergers & Acquisitions practice in Istanbul. His practice focuses on advising private equity, sovereign wealth fund, alternative capital provider (ACPs) and corporate clients on all forms of M&A transactions with a particular emphasis on cross border mergers & acquisitions and joint ventures.
Emre serves clients in many different sectors, including technology, financial services, e-commerce, consumer products, transportation and shipping/railway, energy, media, and healthcare among others.
In addition, Emre acts as a litigator, representing clients in complex commercial disputes and assists his clients in all fields of dispute resolution. His practice includes litigating before Turkish courts on various matters involving commercial law and code of obligations. He has also worked on particular disputes arising from mergers and acquisitions and shareholder relations.
Experience
Representation of BBVA in its bid for the voluntary tender offer to buy out the shares representing the remaining 50.15% of the share capital of Garanti Bank for up to €2.25 billion. The takeover bid is subject to regulatory approvals and the closing of the transaction is estimated to take place during the first quarter of 2022.
Representation of Yemeksepeti, the Turkish subsidiary of Delivery Hero, world's leading local delivery platform operating in over 50 countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, in its acquisition of the shares representing the entire share capital of Marketyo Bilişim Teknoloji A.Ş., an online shopping platform providing local supermarkets with the opportunity to do their business online.
Representation of Softbank Vision Fund in its approximately US$400 million investment in Trendyol, one of Türkiye's leading e-commerce platforms, whose majority shareholder is Alibaba Group. With the total funding of US$1.5 billion provided by other investors, this transaction made Trendyol Türkiye's largest start-up after fundraising and a first "decacorn" with a valuation exceeding US$10 billion.
Representation of TFI TAB Gıda Yatırımları A.Ş. and its founder shareholders Kurdoğlu family in their transfer of the shares representing 14.78% of the share capital of TFI to Goldman Sachs, EBRD and Credit Suisse.
Representation of UniCredit S.p.A., one of Europe's largest and oldest banking groups, in its (i) accelerated book building for the sale of the shares representing 11.927% of the share capital of Yapı ve Kredi Bankası A.Ş. ("Yapı Kredi Bank"), a Tier-1 private bank and the third largest financial services provider in Türkiye; (ii) sale of the shares representing 2% of the share capital of Yapı Kredi Bank on the market; and (iii) sale of the shares representing 18% of the share capital of Yapı Kredi Bank to Koç Holding A.Ş.. This transaction is part of the unwinding process of UniCredit's 17-year long joint venture banking arrangements with local partners in Türkiye in respect of Yapı Kredi Bank.
Representation of Meridian Capital, an international investment company with a diversified investment portfolio spanning consumer goods, real estate, hospitality and natural resources, in its sale of the 345,492 m2 land in Bodrum, Muğla, Türkiye to an affiliate of Özak Global Holding, Özak Gayrimenkul Yatırım Ortaklığı A.Ş., which is a Türkiye-based publicly listed company engaged in the real estate investment trust sector.
Representation of Hanwha Q-Cells Güneş Enerjisi A.Ş. and Hanwha Energy Corporation Singapore Pte. Ltd., subsidiaries of Hanwha Group, a large conglomerate in South Korea with diversified business including chemistry, solar energy, financial services and leisure, in their respective sales of tens of subsidiaries engaged in unlicensed solar energy generation business across Türkiye to various purchasers and providing legal advice to Hanwha Q-Cells Güneş Enerjisi A.Ş. in connection with corporate law, contract law and finance law.
Representation of Zynga, Inc., a global leader in interactive entertainment and mobile gaming, in its acquisition of (directly or through its subsidiaries):
a) the shares representing the entire share capital of:
- Peak Games, a Turkish mobile game developer, for US$1.8 billion, of which US$900 million will be payable in cash, subject to adjustments, and the remaining US$900 million will be satisfied by the issuance of Zynga common stock;
- Rollic Games, a Turkish mobile game developer and publisher with a portfolio of popular hyper-casual games that have been downloaded more than 250 million times;
- Gram Games, a Turkish mobile game developer with its main operations in the UK;
- Uncosoft Yazılım, a Turkish mobile game developer and creator of chart topping hyper-casual titles High Heels!, Repair My Car!, and award winning casual game 9PM Football Managers;
- Forgerhero Yazılım, a Turkish mobile game studio*;
- Creasaur Teknoloji, a Turkish mobile games studio*;
- Zero Sum, a Turkish mobile game studio*;
b) certain assets from Chef Game Studio by way of an asset transfer.
* Yet to be completed.
Representation of Qatar Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund of the Gulf state, in its acquisition of the shares representing 10% of the share capital of Borsa Istanbul, Türkiye's stock exchange, from Turkey Wealth Fund, its majority shareholder.
Representation of Zurich Insurance, a leading multi-line insurer that serves its customers in global and local markets, in re-establishment of a long-term exclusive non-life bancassurance relationship with Türk Ekonomi Bankası A.Ş., one of Türkiye's oldest and most deeply-rooted financial institutions.
Emre Özşar was very hands-on; always pragmatic; very good communicator and negotiator. We were very happy with his services. Emre makes a difference by balancing confidence and respect for the other side which gives the client an upper hand in negotiations.
I work closely with Emre Ozsar, who is able to clearly explain complex concepts in layman terms to business executives, is always approachable, and has strong technical skills that gives internal legal counsels the comfort and trust they seek.
The department is headed by Emre Özşar, who earns plaudits for being a 'good communicator and negotiator'
Legal 500, 2022
"He is always reliable, quick and practical and has superb drafting skills."
"He is very prepared and also with a positive attitude, which is very important and useful when dealing with complex matters in a small amount of time."
"(Up and Coming) ranked as Notable practitioner."
Chambers & Partners, 2021
His intelligence made all process easier for us. His self-confidence and communication skills always boost our chance in negotiation process and/or in conflicts.
Legal 500, 2021