The IJInvestor Award for Local Legal Adviser of the Year in Europe was awarded to Ergün Avukatlik Bürosu, with judges saying it has measurable results and demonstrable success in a variety of infra projects in Turkey. 

One judge said: “I appreciated also the fact that they are Independent law firm.” 

Meanwhile another member of the judging team said: “There is evidence of results during the judging period as one of leading law firms in the Turkish market.” 

While another judge admired that the firm had advised on several landmark deals in the region, which is particularly impressive given the firm was started from scratch without the support of an international law firm.  

The submission said that the firm’s expertise in infrastructure and energy, has established it as a leader in the Turkish market.  

“Having two offices in İstanbul and Ankara gives us the strategic advantage of being present in both Ankara, the political capital of the country, which enables us to directly liaise with the governmental authorities, such as the Treasury, the Competition Authority and the Ministries, and in Istanbul, as the economic and financial centre of the country where most of our clients and headquarters of the banks are based,” the submission said.  

In the past 12 months, Ergün has been involved in number of major big-ticket project finance and M&A deals. 

The firm represented Enerji Yatırımları Anonim Şirketi in its acquisition of Metafor Yenilenebilir Enerji ve Elektrik Üretim Anonim Şirketi and Knot Enerji Elektrik Üretim Anonim Şirketi from Göktekin Enerji Anonim Şirketi. Metafor is the owner of the Metafor Wind Power Plant with the capacity of 49.7 MW in Bingöl, Türkiye and Knot is the owner of the Yakaağzı Wind Power Plant with the capacity of 33.6 MW in Ağrı, Türkiye. 

The submission said: “This deal was particularly complex because Göktekin Enerji was in the process of concordatum, which restricts companies from selling shares in companies they own and they had 100s of debtors. The time was limited and İş Enerji and our commitment to delivering exceptional results was instrumental in the successful completion of this transformative transaction.” 

The firm also represented Türkiye Sınai Kalkınma Bankası and Türkiye Vakıflar Bankası as the lenders’ legal adviser for the Phase II capacity increase investment of the project. 

“The project is Türkiye’s first private sector investment of Lithium-Ion (LiFEPO4) Battery Cell and Energy Storage Systems, as a pioneer in the market. The battery facility is operating with 500 MWh capacity since the second half of 2023 and is planned to access 3 GWh within the year of 2024,” the submission said.