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Turkey is a major exporter of textiles, clothing, steel and cars. However, the country also relies on importing raw materials to support its manufacturing, including imports of cotton, scrap metal and chemicals. As a result, the local industrial and manufacturing sectors are influenced by global commodity trends, fluctuations in exchange rates and international trade or tax policies. These sectors are also highly sensitive to interest rates and consumer demand.

The Turkish government continues to explore and implement development policies and legislative amendments with the explicit aim of increasing productivity and removing obstacles to competitiveness. Local policies and legislation are steadily moving towards standardisation with common international standards.

Moroğlu Arseven understands market trends and consequent legal issues which face industrial and manufacturing clients, both in Turkey and overseas. Our industrial and manufacturing clients include multinational companies as well as local enterprises, which produce a wide variety of products and their sub-components. We support at all business stages, from establishing a presence in Turkey, through to restructuring, expanding, integrating, divesting or optimising local manufacturing or industrial operations.

The firm provides grounded and commercially-focused advice on a wide range of legal matters facing the industrial and manufacturing sectors. These include contract management, employment, health and safety, outsourcing, corporate finance, governance, competition, transfer pricing, environmental and zoning regulations, intellectual property, trade secrets, R&D, as well as warranties and indemnities.

Moroğlu Arseven has particular experience advising clients about issues related to entering and maintaining commercial contracts for procurement, supply chain, and distribution, as well as investment and tax incentive regimes.

The firm assists with all aspects of supply chain management and company lifecycles, including financial, operational, import/export and regulatory issues which impact our clients’ commercial success. We work closely with clients to understand their specific business and operational processes. Our in-depth knowledge of the industrial and manufacturing sectors combined with this client-specific insight enables Moroğlu Arseven to offer tailored legal advice for each client which also includes commercial and strategic elements.

Moroğlu Arseven regularly advises on processes and requirements for Turkey’s Ministry of Industry and Technology, the Turkish Standards Institution, as well as the Industry Directorate General, among other relevant regulatory bodies. We strategically support and represent clients during all aspects of their interactions with these bodies, assisting clients to obtain a wide range of routine and exceptional approvals, exemptions or licenses. Our support includes dealing with day-to-day regulatory relations, as well as high-stakes regulatory investigations or enforcement proceedings.

The firm’s dispute resolution team provides full-scope and integrated support to industrial and manufacturing clients, meaning conflict specialists are involved from the early stages of emerging issues. We support clients with all aspects and perspectives on disputes, along with regulatory investigations. Support includes representing clients in a full spectrum of forums and related processes, including civil and administrative litigation, arbitration and alternative dispute resolution methods, strategic negotiation and settlement processes, as well as injunctions and enforcement actions. For instance, representing clients involved in disputes about distribution agreements, portfolio compensation, asset expropriations, as well as contentious contractual relations.

Moroğlu Arseven’s strong intellectual property team helps industrial and manufacturing clients to proactively protect their intellectual property in Turkey. The firm supports with a full range of issues, including litigation, enforcement, counselling, prosecution and transactions. Intellectual property advice is tightly integrated with other practice areas, assisting clients to establish, protect and commercialise their intellectual property assets from the earliest possible stage. For instance, assisting clients to understand and navigate the various intellectual property issues which arise in the Industry 4.0 context, such as automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. We also have significant experience advising on patent and design protection for new products of processes, counterfeiting, contract manufacturing structures, as well as reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing issues (F/RAND).

Moroğlu Arseven assists industrial and manufacturing clients with all types of major corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic partnerships, spin-offs, divestitures and group restructures. The firm has significant expertise assisting clients during complex, inter-jurisdictional transactions, where strategic guidance is required to deal with the legal, commercial and operational factors simultaneously. These projects often involve high values, or complicated leveraging and equity structures. We work closely with companies, shareholders, investors and financiers on both buy and sell-side, assisting through all stages of these projects. Moroğlu Arseven places a strong focus on ensuring we consider each client’s business objectives and the dynamics of the industrial and manufacturing industries, then reflect these factors into the transaction’s structure, risk allocation, or asset transfers.