Emre Özşar

Partner, Istanbul

Biography

“Emre Özşar is an excellent lawyer; his strong legal and negotiation skills are very helpful from client’s perspective. Emre’s ability to manage difficult situations and calls are unparalleled.”
The Legal 500, Türkiye 2023

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.

Bars and Courts
Istanbul Bar Association
Education
Sports Law Certificate Program
Galatasaray University, Turkish Football Federation and Sports Law Institute
LLB
Istanbul Marmara University, Faculty of Law
Languages
Turkish
English
For Turkish law matters, White & Case works with GKC Partners in Istanbul.

Experience

Some of the transactions he worked and is currently working for can be summarized as follows:

Representation of Zurich Yaşam ve Emeklilik A.Ş., a subsidiary of Zurich Insurance, in its acquisition of the shares representing the entire share capital of NN Hayat ve Emeklilik A.Ş., a subsidiary of NN Group providing pension, life insurance, and complementary health insurance products in Turkiye since 2009, from NN Continental Europe Holdings B.V.

Representation of TotalEnergies Renewables, the renewable energy subsidiary of Total group, in its acquisition of the shares representing 50% of the share capital of Rönesans Enerji Üretim ve Ticaret Anonim Şirketi, carrying out activities related to development and operation of renewable energy power plants and electricity generation and sale, from Rönesans Yenilenebilir Enerji Yatırım Anonim Şirketi, a subsidiary of the Turkish conglomerate Rönesans Holding.

Representation of International Finance Corporation, one of the world's leading international organizations in private sector development, in its sale of shares in various subsidiaries of or in Rönesans Holding Anonim Şirketi, one of Türkiye's largest construction and infrastructure companies, in a number of transactions.

Representation of Mid Europa Partners, a leading buyout investor focused on the growth markets of Central & Eastern Europe, in its sale of the shares representing 90% of the share capital of Özel Kent Sağlık Hizmetleri ve Malzemeleri Sanayi Ticaret A.Ş., to Acıbadem Sağlık Hizmetleri ve Ticaret A.Ş., one of the leading healthcare providers in Türkiye.

Representation of EnerjiSA Enerji Üretim A.Ş., a joint-venture of Sabancı Group and E.ON, in their entry into investment agreements with Enercon, a major German wind turbine manufacturer which is the market leader in Germany, for the purposes of realisation of YEKA-2 Wind Power Plant Projects (Renewable Energy Zone-2) tenders, with an investment value of US$1.2 billion.

Representation of Kalyon İnşaat Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., in its sale of the shares representing 50% of the share capital of Kalyon Enerji Yatırımları A.Ş. to W Solar Investment LLC, an Abu Dhabi-based joint venture of Alpha Dhabi Holding and Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company, which develops, owns, operates, and transfers renewable energy power plants in Africa, Asia, and Europe.

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.

Representation of Hanwha Group, a large conglomerate in South Korea with diversified business including chemistry, energy, leisure, and financial services, in Hanwha Q-Cells Güneş Enerjisi A.Ş.'s sales of tens of subsidiaries engaged in unlicensed solar energy generation business across Türkiye to various purchasers.

Representation of Zynga, Inc., a global leader in interactive entertainment and mobile gaming, in its acquisition of (directly or through its subsidiaries) various Turkish mobile game companies in a number of transactions, including Peak Games, Türkiye's first “unicorn” as well as Rollic Games, with a portfolio of popular hyper-casual games that have been downloaded more than 250 million times.

Representation of Mitsubishi Corporation, global integrated business enterprise and Japan's one of the largest trading companies, in its acquisition of the shares representing approximately 5% of the share capital of Çalık Energy, a subsidiary of Çalık Holding, one of the leading Turkish conglomerates with business operations in many industries.

Awards and Recognition

"Emre Özşar is an excellent lawyer; his strong legal and negotiation skills are very helpful from client's perspective. Emre's ability to manage difficult situations and calls are unparalleled."

"I would certainly single out Emre Özşar among his peers. Due to my background and experience I have worked with many different partners from many important law firms in Turkey and I can wholeheartedly say that Emre is simply the best among his competitors."

"Emre Özşar is a problem solver. No matter how complex the issue can be he always comes up with a solution. He's very smart, hard-working and has extensive negotiation skills. Thanks to his strong character and persuasion skills we reached a very positive result in both transactions from a legal and commercial perspective."
The Legal 500, Türkiye 2023

"Emre Özşar is very experienced and, thanks to his legal knowledge and skills, he is able to come up with very efficient solutions to pretty complex issues. He is also very constructive and is a great negotiator."

"Emre Özşar provides excellent strategic advice and great efforts to provide solutions in difficult situations."
Chambers & Partners, Türkiye 2023