Global Private Equity Fund Managers Gathered in Istanbul for Investment Opportunities in Turkey
Foreks - The "6th Annual Private Equity Funds Meeting" conference organized by Globalturk Capital, which provides top-notch services to companies and global private equity funds in mergers, acquisitions, and strategic business development both in Turkey and abroad, was held on October 24 in Istanbul.
In collaboration with the Global Private Capital Association (GPCA) and with valuable contributions from the Presidential Investment Office, the conference brought together high-level representatives from investment funds managing assets exceeding $2 trillion in total in Turkey and the region.
This year's conference featured numerous panels with comprehensive content, during which Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Zekeriya Çoştu shared Turkey's policies in the field of Industry and Technology with investors. Senior private equity fund managers who have invested or are considering investing in Turkey discussed in detail the investment strategies for the upcoming period, Turkey’s attractiveness in the private equity sector, and cross-border investment opportunities in the surrounding area. New global, regional, and Turkey-focused contemporary and future investment themes were addressed, particularly emphasizing value-added and export-oriented industries, services, and technology investments, as well as private equity, private debt, and venture capital funds investing in these areas.
"Improving the investment environment with regulations that will enhance our competitiveness"
Ahmet Burak Dağlıoğlu, President of the Presidential Investment Office, highlighted Turkey's opportunities and competitive position for investors in his speech on "Turkey's New Foreign Direct Investment Strategy" at the conference. He called on international private equity fund managers to invest in Turkey and stated: “We are continuing our growth while prioritizing price stability and combating inflation. We want to gain a larger share of international direct investment. With the 5-year plan we have established for this purpose, we aim to increase our share from 1% to 1.5%. Most international investors compare Turkey to countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Over the past 20 years, Turkey has become the second-largest country in the region attracting international direct investment with a 1% share, and we want to increase this figure to 1.5% in the next 5 years. The quality of international direct investment is also important. We want to focus on digital, high-knowledge, job-creating projects and the service sector.”
Dağlıoğlu also emphasized their commitment to projects that create global value chains, saying: “We believe that financial investors can make more investments in our country, and we want to harness this potential. Firstly, we are making necessary regulations to enhance our competitiveness and improve the investment environment. Digital transformation continues to be at the center of our international direct investment strategy. We are determined to execute structural reforms and improvements to make Turkey's investment environment globally competitive. We have made regulations in corporate incentive programs and allocated $30 billion in public resources for some high-tech investments.”
Pointing out that affordable financing options have been provided for industry-focused technology investments, Dağlıoğlu stated, “Technology and sustainability are among our top priorities. Projects with a green agenda will be able to benefit from state-supported affordable financing. In the first nine months of this year, approximately $700 million was invested in the technology ecosystem, with around 390 transactions taking place. The most funded sectors include fintech, cybersecurity, gaming, and blockchain. Additionally, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, health technology, agricultural technology, and sustainability are among the most funded sectors.”
“Turkey's resilient, dynamic, and flexible business environment provides significant opportunities for investments.”
Barış Öney, Founding and Managing Partner of Globalturk Capital, Member of the GPCA Central and Eastern Europe Leadership Council, and Representative for Turkey, mentioned in his speech at the conference that Turkey and its neighboring regions offer great potential for the future and that it is the perfect time to accelerate investment decisions, stating: “Despite global and local uncertainties, Turkey has proven to be an investment-ready and exit-friendly market for private equity for 28 years, even in the most challenging times. Turkey's resilient, dynamic, and flexible business environment offers tremendous opportunities for both inbound investments and direct investments made abroad. Over the past 20 years, Turkey has attracted more than $200 billion in international direct investments, while Turkish companies have invested $65 billion abroad. This two-way investment traffic is extremely healthy for our country and will trigger further foreign direct investment inflows to Turkey. Particularly in 2023, the fact that Turkish companies’ direct investments abroad exceeded incoming international direct investments for the first time demonstrates the increasing influence of Turkish companies on the global stage, creating a positive feedback loop for investment, trade, and tourism.”
Öney noted the strong technology start-up ecosystem that developed in Turkey over the past 7 years, stating, “These investments have resulted in highly successful unicorns and decacorns, especially in the e-commerce, fintech, and gaming sectors. The Turkish government has set ambitious targets to reach 100,000 technology ventures and 100 Turkish unicorns by 2030. We must accelerate the growth of SMEs in every sector, support them through local bank financing and funding, promote mergers and acquisitions, and develop financial instruments to support these efforts while accelerating industry-specific consolidations.”
Globally, investments are increasingly focusing on energy transformation, climate change, value-added industry, productive artificial intelligence, robotics, healthcare, cyber and digital security, food safety, and technology, Öney pointed out, stating, “Mining and minerals are drawing attention due to raw material shortages. Turkey stands out as the largest export-focused industrial hub between Germany and China. Industries such as health, telecom, banking, e-commerce, and rapidly growing fintech and gaming sectors are also strengthening.”
Since 2015, the conference and event series organized by Globalturk Capital as “private equity activities” in Turkey and its surroundings has proven to bring together investors from around the world with representatives from the business sector and government, providing an opportunity to evaluate new investment opportunities and exchange views from different perspectives. Up until now, these events, held in Istanbul, London, New York, and Washington DC, have created opportunities for private equity to turn its attention to Turkey and the region, contributing to the gathering of many funds and the execution of investments and exits.
The conference organized by Globalturk Capital, in strategic partnership with the Global Private Capital Association (GPCA) and with valuable support from the Presidential Investment Office, had sponsors including Ak Portföy, Alkima Partners, CEECAT, Datasite, Digital East Fund, Esas Holding, Esin Avukatlık Ortaklığı, Figopara, Finberg, Franklin Templeton, Gedik Yatırım (IS:GEDIK), Lycian Capital, Ludus Ventures, Mastercard, Maxis Girişim Sermayesi Portföy Yönetimi, Mediterra Capital, Turkven, Arksginer, BosphorusISS, Çukur Partners, D'S Damat, Haznedar Durer Refractories, Hergüner Hukuk Ofisi, İş Yatırım, Metis Ventures, Moral Hukuk Ofisi, Paksoy Hukuk, TTGV, 360+ Media Interactive Technologies, Arçelik (IS:ARCLK), Robusta, and the Women in Technology Association (Wtech).