Umut Kolcuoğlu

Practice Areas

Corporate/M&A, Joint Ventures, Banking, Finance and Capital Markets

Career

Dr. Umut Kolcuoğlu is the Firm’s founder and managing partner. He was an associate lawyer in a major Istanbul-based law firm between 1998 and 2000 and then later on between 2003 and 2005. He was seconded to Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, New York in 2002. He also worked as a foreign associate at Hengeler Mueller in Frankfurt between 2005 and 2006 and subsequently founded the Firm in 2007.

Professional Memberships

Board Member of Boyner Group; Member of the Board of Trustees of Turkey Entrepreneurship Foundation; Advisory Board Member of Istanbul Bilgi University School of Law; New York Bar Association; Istanbul Bar Association; International Bar Association (IBA); Turkish Corporate Governance Association (TKYD); Turkish-British Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TBCCI); German-Turkish Chamber of Industry (AHK)

Publications

Columnist both for Turkey’s leading economic newspaper, Nasıl Bir Ekonomi (https://www.ekonomim.com) and TR Monitor (https://www.trmonitor.net); Author of “Mandatory Tender Offers in Capital Market Law” (Vedat Publications, April 2009)

Personal

Istanbul University School of Law (PhD on Corporate Law and Capital Market Law, 2009); New York University School of Law (LL.M. on Corporate Law, 2001); Istanbul University School of Law (LL.B., 1998); Sankt Georg Austrian High School (1994)

Languages Spoken

English, German, Turkish

Experience

Dr. Umut Kolcuoğlu has over 25 years of diverse experience and comparative knowledge in M&A, privatization, joint ventures, capital markets, corporate and finance transactions, as well as international commercial dispute resolution. He has advised leading private equities, multinationals, financial institutions and borrowers in numerous cross-border and local transactions involving various industry sectors. Umut has also acted as expert witness in international arbitration proceedings involving corporate and commercial disputes between Turkish and international parties. He leads the Firm’s German desk. Aside from his legal practice, Umut serves as an independent board member of various companies.

Clients

Vitol, Petrol Ofisi, Abu Dhabi Ports Company PJSC, Cosco Group, QTerminals, team.blue, Likewize Corp. (formerly Brightstar Corp.), Glencore, ORIX Corporation, UTC Aerospace (Goodrich Corporation), TPI Composites, Talanx Group, HDI Insurance, VHV Group, BMS Group, Otto Group, Hugo Boss, BioIVT LLC, Bunzl, Deloitte, Siemens, Hyundai Motor Company, Turkven Private Equity, Mediterra Capital, İş Private Equity, Bain Capital, Southeast Europe Equity Fund II, MIC Capital, Bedminster Capital, Boyner Group, Doğan Holding, Hedef Filo, Chailease International, Mubadala, Samsung C&T, Deutsche Bank, Barwa Bank, Wittur Turkey, NEF, Tavuk Dünyası, Hypo Real Estate Holding, Deutsche Pfandbriefbank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Putzmeister, X-Trade Brokers, LR Global Holding GmbH, FMS Wertmanagement, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Lloyds Bank and Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft Mbh (DEG).

Work Highlights

In recent years, Umut advised Vitol, one of the world’s largest energy companies, on its acquisition of Petrol Ofisi, Turkey’s leading fuel products distributor, from OMV AG for USD 1.45 billion; Vitol and its Turkish subsidiary Petrol Ofisi on the acquisition of BP’s Turkish downstream fuel operations; QTerminals, a leading Qatar-based terminal operating company, on its acquisition of Port Akdeniz; team.blue on several acquisitions of Turkey’s outstanding hosting and domain name registration service providers; and MIC Capital Management 39 RSC Ltd, a fund owned by Abu Dhabi state investor Mubadala, in connection with its investment in Getir B.V. by way of share subscription. He further advised HDI Insurance, one of Turkey's leading insurance companies and a Talanx AG subsidiary, on its acquisition of a majority stake in Fiba Emeklilik ve Hayat, a prominent life insurance and pension company in Turkey as well as incorporation of a joint venture with Fibabanka, to be engaged in non-life insurance business. He recently advised Mediterra Capital on the sale of its shares in Paycore, a prominent payment services provider, to Param, the largest full-stack payment service provider of Turkey; Boyner Group, Turkey’s leading retail group, in connection with Param’s (a licensed e-money institution offering payment solutions) acquisition of Hopi’s, Boyner’s loyalty and consumer platform, minority shares issued through capital increases made in two tranches; and EVS, company focusing on electronical charging solutions, and its shareholders on the sale and transfer of EVS to a venture capital investment fund as well as acquisition of Ovolt, a company active in the same sector under the same fund structure.

Some of Umut’s recent work highlights in capital markets include legal advice in the financial restructuring (under the German Financial Market Stabilization Fund Act) of the Turkish component of a portfolio of loans, securities, derivative instruments and other assets and liabilities, having a nominal amount of EUR 173 billion as well as on Tavuk Dünyası’s, a Turkish fast-food giant and a Mediterra portfolio company, IPO.