Control of mergers and acquisitions within the framevwork of the competition law - Aspects Related to material law

ABSTRACT Mergers and acquisitions between the enterprises are one of the essential economic formations regulated within the framework of the competition law. The main reason underlying this fact is the lessening of the level of competition in the markets which results from the increase of the economic concentration based upon mergers and acquisitions. Therefore, the competition law- related legislations of many countries including Turkey and the European Union contain legal provisions aiming at the control of mergers and acquisitions by the competition authorities. The main source of the Turkish legislation relating to this particular field can be found in the ü^ı^ean Union legislation regarding the control of concentrations. The purpose of this study is to raise conclusions and suggestions regarding the very new Turkish legislation on the control of mergers and acquisitions, with the help of references to the legislations and practices of the countries having a long history in the field of the competition law, whereas particular focus will be given to the European Union legislation on this filed. In this study, only the material law-related aspects of the legal sources regarding the control of mergers and acquisitions are examined in detail, whereas solely a general information is given with respect to the issues regarding the procedural aspects of the same field. Within the scope of the material law-related dimension of the topic; the concept of "mergers and acquisitions" for the purposes of the competition law, the criterions aiming at the determination of the mergers and acquisitions subject to the control provided by the competition law and the principles regarding the material assessment of mergers and acquisitions by the competition authorities are taken into consideration respectively. In alignment with the rapidly growing tendency towards commercial globalization, mergers and acquisitions between the enterprises have become a world-wide popular economic phenomenon. The state intervention to be made to this usual economic phenomenon that has a very important place in the free market order, must be limited to such cases where that intervention can be considered crucial and indispensable for the protection of the free market order itself. Particularly, for the emerging economies such as the Turkey's, the consideration of the general economic advantages likely to be gained upon mergers and acquisitions within the scope of competition law practices would be appreciated as a consistent and useful approach. VI