Deloitte Turkey’s finding that Turkish mergers and acquisitions reached roughly $16.2 billion across 450 transactions in 2025 marks more than a cyclical rebound. It signals that international capital is again testing larger, more strategic exposure to Turkey, even as inflation, financing costs, regulatory approvals and currency risk continue to shape deal execution.
A Deal Market Reopens After a Cautious Period
According to CNBC-e’s February 23, 2026 report on Deloitte Turkey’s 2025 M&A review, total deal value in Turkey rose 88 percent from the previous year, while deal count increased 6 percent. Deloitte Turkey reported 450 completed transactions, with average deal size rising from $20 million to $36 million.
The composition matters. Deals above $500 million accounted for 44 percent of total transaction value in 2025, up from 13 percent a year earlier. Deloitte said the number of such large transactions rose from one in 2024 to seven in 2025.
Deloitte Turkey M&A Services Leader Özlem Ulaş described the market as shifting toward “more strategic, larger scale and longer-term” transactions, according to CNBC-e. Duygu Doğançay, a Deloitte Turkey M&A director, said foreign investors remained more selective, but participated through higher-value deals.
That distinction is important for foreign direct investment. Turkey is not simply seeing more small opportunistic transactions. The market is again producing assets large enough to attract multinational strategic buyers, private equity funds, infrastructure investors and regional consolidators.
Foreign Investors Are Selective, but Still Material
Deloitte’s numbers show domestic investors remained the main force in transaction count and value. Local investors completed 361 deals worth $9.3 billion, representing 57 percent of total deal value. Foreign investors completed 89 deals worth $6.9 billion, or 43 percent of total value.
Eurozone investors led by deal count, with 46 transactions. Deloitte attributed that to geographic proximity, trade integration and established commercial links. North American investors, by contrast, accounted for 66 percent of foreign deal value because of larger transactions.
This pattern fits broader FDI data. The Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Investment and Finance Office reported that Turkey attracted $13.1 billion in FDI in 2025, up 12.2 percent year on year, citing Central Bank balance of payments data. The Investment Office also states in Turkey’s 2024-2028 FDI Strategy that Ankara aims to raise the country’s share of global FDI flows to 1.5 percent by 2028 and its share of FDI into Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa to 12 percent.
For investors, the M&A market is therefore becoming one channel through which Turkey’s FDI strategy can be tested. Greenfield projects remain important, particularly in manufacturing, logistics, energy and technology. But acquisitions allow faster entry into existing customer bases, licenses, supply chains and management teams.
The practical challenge is that acquisition-based entry is rarely just a valuation exercise. A foreign buyer must assess ownership structure, competition approval, sector-specific licensing, tax liabilities, employment exposure, foreign exchange contracts and incentive eligibility. This is where market entry strategy, incorporation, legal and tax compliance, government relations and project management become operational requirements rather than advisory extras.
Privatization and Infrastructure Lift the Headline Numbers
The largest transaction cited by Deloitte was the $1.7 billion tender for Turkey’s vehicle inspection stations, won by the MOI Consortium. Opus Group announced in March 2025 that the consortium, anchored by Met-Gün and Opus, had been awarded a 20-year concession beginning in August 2027 and covering more than 30 million registered vehicles. The previous operator, TÜVTÜRK, is due to remain in place until the new concession begins.
Other major privatization-linked transactions included Çayırhan Thermal Power Plant at $551 million and Fenerbahçe Kalamış Marina at $504 million, according to CNBC-e’s summary of Deloitte’s report.
These deals point to a familiar feature of Turkey’s investment market. Large opportunities often sit at the intersection of public concessions, regulated services and infrastructure modernization. They can be attractive because demand is visible and long-term, but they also require investors to manage tender rules, concession terms, tariff exposure, local operating partners, labor obligations and regulatory liaison.
Energy also played a major role. Deloitte highlighted Apollo Global Management’s $1 billion investment in BP Pipelines’ TANAP exposure as one of the year’s notable transactions. Bloomberg reported in March 2025 that Apollo-managed funds would purchase a 25 percent non-controlling stake in BP Pipelines, known as BP TANAP, for about $1 billion. TANAP is a core part of the Southern Gas Corridor transporting Caspian gas through Turkey toward Europe.
For foreign investors, such infrastructure and energy deals underline Turkey’s dual role as a domestic growth market and regional platform. The country’s location between Europe, the Caucasus, the Middle East and Central Asia can support logistics, energy transit and manufacturing strategies. But these sectors require government relations capability, import-export planning, regulatory compliance and careful project management after closing.
Technology and Financial Investors Add Depth
Deloitte said financial investor deal value rose from $2.2 billion to $4.6 billion in 2025, a 109 percent increase. Private equity deal count was broadly stable, but deal value rose from $0.9 billion to $3.8 billion. Deloitte also counted 14 exits by private equity investors, suggesting improved liquidity.
Technology, gaming and fintech remained active in early-stage and growth transactions. The Investment Office says Turkey’s startup ecosystem attracted $5.6 billion in investments from 2021 through the third quarter of 2025, and that Turkey ranked 12th in Europe and third in the MENA region for startup investments during that period. StartupCentrum’s 2025 summary reported $586.8 million in startup investment, while FinTech Magazine, citing startups.watch, said Turkish startups attracted about $589 million across 306 funding rounds in 2025, with fintech and gaming together accounting for 68 percent of capital allocation.
A March 2026 article for the International Bar Association by Kabine Law’s Tuvan Yalim and Mehmet Karli noted that technology, media and telecoms remained the most active sector by transaction count in 2025. The article also cited the Turkish Competition Authority’s review of 416 transactions in 2025, including 162 involving Turkey-based targets.
The technology angle is relevant for FDI because it differs from traditional industrial entry. Foreign investors buying or funding a Turkish technology company must assess data protection, intellectual property ownership, founder retention, employee option structures, cross-border revenue recognition and regulatory licensing in areas such as payments, e-commerce and digital services.
In fintech, for example, a growth investor may need to understand Central Bank rules, payment institution licensing, anti-money laundering controls and consumer protection obligations. In gaming, the diligence focus shifts toward IP chain of title, app store revenue, user acquisition economics and foreign exchange exposure. These are different market entry questions from buying a factory, but they still require structured incorporation, compliance and tax planning.
Macro Conditions Are Improving, but Not Simple
The rebound in dealmaking is occurring against a macroeconomic backdrop that is better than the crisis years, but still demanding. The OECD’s December 2025 Economic Outlook said Turkey’s monetary policy became more supportive in the third quarter of 2025 as the central bank began cutting rates, while also warning that tight policy should remain until inflation declines durably. The World Bank’s Turkey macroeconomic update noted that the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey raised the policy rate to 46 percent in April 2025 amid market uncertainty before resuming cuts in July.
As of June 2026, Trading Economics reported that the central bank held its policy rate at 37 percent, with the overnight lending rate at 40 percent and borrowing rate at 35.5 percent. IMF DataMapper showed Turkey’s end-period consumer inflation for 2026 at 24.5 percent.
For dealmakers, this means financing costs, working capital assumptions and currency hedging remain central to valuation. A target with strong Turkish lira revenue may look attractive on growth metrics, but foreign investors need to stress-test debt service, import costs, indexed contracts and dividend repatriation assumptions.
Credit ratings have improved from earlier lows, though Turkey remains below investment grade at major agencies. S&P Global affirmed Turkey’s BB-/B ratings with a stable outlook in April 2026, noting strong bank lending in 2025 and expecting slower credit growth in 2026. Rating stabilization can support capital market confidence, but investors still need to price Turkey-specific risk rather than assume a straight-line normalization.
This is why transaction execution requires more than legal documentation. A foreign buyer entering Turkey through acquisition must build an integrated operating model, including local entity structure, tax position, financing route, incentive eligibility, supplier contracts, import-export processes and compliance governance.
Regulation Is Liberal, but Approval Work Is Real
Turkey’s foreign investment regime is generally open. ICLG’s 2026 Turkey FDI review states that Foreign Direct Investment Law No. 4875, enacted in 2003, establishes foreign investor rights, dispute resolution principles and equal treatment between foreign and domestic investors. Legal commentary from Paksoy also notes that foreign investors are generally allowed to repatriate capital and dividends.
However, “open” does not mean approval-free. Chambers’ merger control guidance states that Turkish merger control rules apply to foreign direct investments. The Turkish Competition Authority can review transactions that meet turnover thresholds, and sector regulators may be involved in banking, insurance, energy, telecoms, payments and other regulated industries.
The U.S. State Department’s 2025 Investment Climate Statement for Turkey said the country’s investment incentives promote green investments, strategic industries and investment in developing regions. The Investment Office’s incentives guide says Turkey issued 432 incentive certificates to international investors in 2025, worth TRY 109.5 billion and associated with employment for 16,700 people.
For acquirers, incentives can change the economics of a deal, but they also introduce compliance obligations. Investors must examine whether existing incentive certificates transfer after acquisition, whether new capital expenditure qualifies, whether employment commitments are binding, and whether regional or sectoral incentive rules affect site selection.
A manufacturing investor buying a Turkish target, for example, may need market entry analysis to determine whether to acquire, form a joint venture or establish a new subsidiary. It may need incorporation and corporate structuring to hold Turkish assets efficiently. It may need investment incentives work to secure regional, strategic or green transformation support. It may need legal and tax compliance diligence before closing. It may need government relations support for permits, sector approvals and local authorities. It may need import-export facilitation if production depends on imported inputs or export channels. Finally, it may need project management to integrate operations after the transaction closes.
What This Means for Foreign Investors
Turkey’s 2025 M&A rebound shows that the market is again producing transactions large enough to matter for international investors. But the opportunity is uneven. Infrastructure, energy, services, technology, manufacturing and financial services each offer different risk profiles, regulatory routes and post-closing requirements.
The main lesson is that Turkey cannot be evaluated only through headline deal value. A $16.2 billion M&A market signals liquidity and investor confidence, but successful entry depends on whether a buyer can translate a transaction into an operating platform. That requires a clear market entry thesis, disciplined target screening, local incorporation and ownership planning, tax and legal diligence, incentive mapping, regulatory engagement and hands-on execution after closing.
For foreign investors considering Turkey in 2026, the most practical first step is to separate strategic intent from transaction mechanics. Is the goal domestic market access, export production, regional logistics, energy exposure, technology acquisition or a concession-based infrastructure position? Each path implies a different mix of advisory work across market entry, incorporation, incentives, legal and tax compliance, government relations, import-export facilitation and project management.
Deloitte’s report suggests investors are no longer waiting on the sidelines. The next phase will test whether foreign buyers can move from selective interest to executable commitments in a market where opportunity is real, but local navigation remains decisive.