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The TCA Imposes Fine on Doğa Koleji for Its Anti-Competitive Conducts in the Labour Market

Competition Law | Articles

The TCA Imposes Fine on Doğa Koleji for Its Anti-Competitive Conducts in the Labour Market

The Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) concluded its investigation into Arı İnovasyon ve Bilim Eğitim Hizmetleri AŞ (“Doğa Koleji”) regarding the claims that Doğa Koleji has engaged in anti-competitive practices with other private schools operating in the Kocaeli province, with its decision dated 03.10.2024 and numbered 24-40/948-407 (“Decision”). Doğa Koleji was alleged to have participated in collusive conduct with competing private schools, jointly determining the level of annual meal fees charged to students and restricting competition in the labour market for teaching personnel. These practices allegedly involved exchanging sensitive information about wages and job applicants, making joint hiring or no-hiring decisions, and collectively implementing wage restraint policies. Such conduct was claimed to restrict competition in terms of both service pricing and employment conditions, potentially leading to higher prices for customers and reduced job mobility for educators.

A Significant Update Regarding the Producer/Exporter Certificate Regulation in Türkiye: Expanded Obligations and Verification Procedures under Trade Defence Measures

International Trade | Articles

A Significant Update Regarding the Producer/Exporter Certificate Regulation in Türkiye: Expanded Obligations and Verification Procedures under Trade Defence Measures

TheProducer/ExporterCertificate (“Certificate”) has long served as a critical instrument in Türkiye’s implementation of anti-dumping and countervailing duties, particularly in cases where such measures are applied on a company-specific basis. For importers to benefit from preferential, lower duty rates assigned to specific foreign producers or exporters, a valid Certificate must be presented at the time of customs declaration. Otherwise, imports are subject to the higher, residual duty rate applicable to all other exporters from the same country. A recent and comprehensive update by the Turkish Ministry of Trade (“Ministry”) has introduced detailed rules governing the issuance, format, verification, and validity of the Certificate. These changes significantly increase the compliance obligations for all parties involved-importers, producer/exporters, and traders-by introducing stricter documentation requirements, formalizing verification procedures (including on-the-spot verifications), and limiting the Certificate’s validity to one year.

TCA Identified Gun-jumping During Review of Subsequent Transaction (Broadcom/VMware decision)

Competition Law | Articles

TCA Identified Gun-jumping During Review of Subsequent Transaction (Broadcom/VMware decision)

During its review of a separate notified transaction, the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) uncovered a gun-jumping violation related to Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware. Specifically, in its decision dated 01.04.2024 and numbered 24-25/596-249, the Competition Board authorized KKR Management LLP to acquire all shares of VMware LLC’s End User Computing business line. However, in the course of this assessment, the TCA realized that Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware had not been notified in Türkiye, despite being reported to multiple competition authorities worldwide. This led the Board to initiate an ex officio investigation and subsequently impose a gun-jumping fine. The Broadcom/VMware Decision (dated 18.07.2024 and numbered 24-30/707-296) offers critical insights into the Board’s evaluation of gun-jumping cases, addressing key issues such as turnover calculations, procedural obligations, and the availability of possible defences.

Google Finally Complies Fully With Turkish Competition Authority Obligations

Competition Law | Articles

Google Finally Complies Fully With Turkish Competition Authority Obligations

Introduction Following our earlier analysis of Google’s ongoing struggle to meet the obligations set by the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”), a new decision by the TCA brings a change in the narrative. The newly published decision dated 04.06.2024 and numbered 24-24/562-236 (“Compliance Decision”), the Board now confirms that Google has remedied its non-compliance in hotel search queries within the local search services market. After in just 37 days, Google implemented the remaining measures previously found deficient, thereby ceasing the daily administrative fine. In this follow-up article, we revisit the background of the case, outline the new developments, and examine the Board’s reasoning that led to the cessation of the daily fine.

The Turkish Competition Authority Decided That There Is No Procedural Benefit in Initiating Commitment Negotiations

Competition Law | Articles

The Turkish Competition Authority Decided That There Is No Procedural Benefit in Initiating Commitment Negotiations

Pursuant to the Competition Board’s (“Board”) decision dated 15.12.2022 and numbered 22-55/850-M, an investigation was initiated to determine whether Nestle Türkiye Gıda Sanayi AŞ (“Nestle”) infringed Article 4 of the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Competition Law”) by (i) setting the resale price of its distributors and (ii) imposing regional and customer restrictions on them. During the investigation process, Nestle requested the initiation of commitment discussions for both allegations. This request of Nestle was rejected by the Board’s decision dated 28.04.2023 and numbered 23-19/357-M. Then, within the framework of Article 11 of the Administrative Procedure Law No. 2577 (“IYUK”), Nestle requested that the Board reassess and revoke the decision to reject the request to submit a commitment, thereby enabling the commencement of commitment discussions.

TCA and Gun-Jumping: Insights into Foreign-to-Foreign Transactions

Competition Law | Articles

TCA and Gun-Jumping: Insights into Foreign-to-Foreign Transactions

Pursuant to Turkish merger control regime, mergers and acquisitions exceeding the applicable thresholds must be notified to the Turkish Competition Board (“Board”) before their implementation. According to Article 16 of Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Competition Law”), if such concentrations requiring authorization are realized without prior notification and approval of the Board, an administrative fine of 0.1% of the annual gross Turkish revenues of undertakings shall be imposed on natural and legal persons having the nature of an undertaking and on associations of undertakings or members of such associations. The implementation of transactions without obtaining the Board’s authorization is called “gun-jumping” and is subject to an administrative fine. Considering that the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) takes an active stance in merger control enforcement, including in global mergers and acquisitions that are completed without authorisation, this article examines the Board’s gun-jumping decisions with a particular focus on foreign-to-foreign transactions.

Data Deletion During On-Site Inspections: Departure from the Principle of Zero Tolerance?

Data Protection | Articles

Data Deletion During On-Site Inspections: Departure from the Principle of Zero Tolerance?

The power to conduct unannounced on-site inspections, commonly known as dawn raids, remains one of the most effective tools available to competition authorities in detecting anti-competitive practices. However, the digital transformation of business operations has introduced new complexities to these on-site inspections, particularly regarding the handling and preservation of electronic evidence. Recent decisions by the Turkish Competition Authority (the “TCA“) highlight the evolving challenges and approaches to managing violations encountered during the on-site inspections in the digital age.

TCA Reveals Detailed Reasoning of Hefty Fine on Nestle Due to Vertical Restraints

Competition Law | Articles

TCA Reveals Detailed Reasoning of Hefty Fine on Nestle Due to Vertical Restraints

Introduction On 16.12.2024, the Turkish Competition Authority’s (“TCA”) reasoned decision imposing an administrative fine of TRY 346,911,505.44 (approx. EUR 10.4 million) on Nestle Türkiye Gıda Sanayi A.Ş. (“Nestle”) was published on the TCA’s official website For the background information, the TCA had initiated a full-fledged investigation on 15.12.2022 into Nestle regarding the allegations that the undertaking violated Article 4 of the Law No. 4054 on the Protection of Competition (“Competition Law”) by means of (i) determining the resale prices of its distributors (“RPM”) and (ii) imposing region and customer restrictions to its distributors3. In line with the case team’s assessments, the TCA decided that Nestle violated Article 4 of the Competition Law via these vertical restraints.

The Turkish Competition Authority’s M&A Overview Report 2024: Key Trends and Insights

Competition Law | Articles

The Turkish Competition Authority’s M&A Overview Report 2024: Key Trends and Insights

The Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) has published its 2024 Mergers and Acquisitions Overview Report (“Report”), presenting a comprehensive review of its merger control activities over the past year. Released on 7 January 2025, the Report provides key statistical data on merger control filings, highlights notable trends, and compares developments with previous years. By summarizing 2024's M&A activities, the Report serves as a valuable resource for understanding the evolution of merger control in Türkiye. In 2024, the TCA reviewed 311 transactions, 1 a significant increase from 207 in 2023 and 227 in 2022. This 43% rise marks the highest number of transactions reviewed in the past 12 years, since the TCA began publishing M&A overview reports. While the Report does not explain the reasons behind this sharp increase, the primary factors are likely the technology undertaking exception and the inflation. The thresholds for notifiable M&As were last updated in early 2022, coinciding with a 100% depreciation of the Turkish Lira.

Main Developments in Competition Law and Policy 2024 – Türkiye

Competition Law | Articles

Main Developments in Competition Law and Policy 2024 – Türkiye

2024 was marked by significant investigations, fines, and new frameworks addressing emerging issues in competition law of Türkiye. From resale price maintenance (RPM) and labor market agreements to the regulation of digital marketplaces, the Turkish Competition Authority’s (TCA) activities reflect a commitment to fostering competitive markets across various sectors. This short article outlines and summarizes the most notable competition law developments in Türkiye in 2024, focusing on the relevant cases and legislative updates.

What have the first two years of “technology undertaking exception” shown us?

Competition Law | Articles

What have the first two years of “technology undertaking exception” shown us?

In the Turkish merger control regime, a new concept, namely “technology undertaking exception” was introduced in March 2022 and entered into force in May 2022. This exception basically eliminates the turnover thresholds for the Target and requires the undertakings to notify the transaction to the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) if they acquire a “technology undertaking”. The aim of the TCA was to catch the “killer acquisitions” and took a certain step to regulate the technology M&As as the other competition authorities around the world. At the end of 2024, it is a good time to see the first impact of this exception in the Turkish merger control regime. In this piece, we will evaluate the first two years of the TCA’s approach to this new concept and certain important decisions that were brought to the TCA’s table through the technology undertaking exception.

Corporate Liability Redefined: TCA’s Stance on Employee-Leaked Competitive Information

Competition Law | Articles

Corporate Liability Redefined: TCA’s Stance on Employee-Leaked Competitive Information

Introduction The recent decision of the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) in its investigation into Altıparmak Gıda A.Ş. (“Balparmak”) and Sezen Gıda Ltd. Şti. (“Anavarza”), prominent players in the bee products market, highlights a pivotal shift in corporate liability for employees’ anti-competitive behaviour when conducted without the company’s knowledge. Unlike the approach to corporate liability taken in the Arçelik/Vestel case, where proactive compliance measures absolved an undertaking of liability, the TCA held Balparmak accountable for an employee’s unilateral disclosure of competitively sensitive information to a competitor. This illustrates a growing expectation for businesses to not only establish rigorous compliance frameworks but also actively monitor and address potential breaches to mitigate liability.

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