Deal sourcing in Turkey can be a very daunting task for those who are not knowledgably of the local business culture. It is far different from the formal deal sourcing that investors are so used to in Western Europe or in North American environments.
The first thing many investors must take notice is that the market is relatively small as compared to other developed nations. To this end, practically every corporate advisory, private equity and venture capital firm is after the same group of companies. This can easily create an awkward environment where potentially everyone knows what everyone else is working on.
In an eco-system where deals are often known to be handled by multiple players, any confidentiality or exclusivity agreements lose some of their impact on the process. Clearly this is not the case with every deal – especially those that are traded publicly or those that are significant in size.
There are no ‘unique’ ways to identify new deals in Turkey. The process is really no different than it is in any other country. Investors should rely on local partners with local know-how and local networks.
There is one thing investors should keep mindful of here: everyone will claim to have access to the richest and most influential CEO’s in the country. The minute you hear this…. hold on to you wallets. It is interesting that many those that claim to have deep networks do actually have them – it is amazing how everyone knows everyone else in this country. What is critical is that not everyone will do business with everyone else so international investors must be careful to chose a partner who has business credibility and is known to deliver and produce actual results.
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