Hergüner Bilgen Üçer Attorney Partnership

Senior Partner: Ümit Hergüner

Managing Partner: Kayra Üçer

Number of lawyers: 90

Languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Turkish

Firm Overview:

Since 1989, Hergüner Bilgen Üçer Attorney Partnership has been recrafting the Turkish law firm model along modern corporate standards, while maintaining the personal attention that its clients have come to expect. Its size and expertise make it one of the few truly fullservice independent Turkish law firms with a global reach, equally at home in the role of primary counsel in multinational transactions and local counsel to foreign and domestic clients. The firm’s expertise and institutional knowledge enable it to go beyond simple lawyering and develop creative business-oriented solutions to client needs. It accomplishes this by putting clients first and becoming intimately acquainted with all aspects of their business and legal needs. The firm’s reputation for innovation goes back almost three decades, having drafted many first-of-their-kind agreements in cross-border transactions that continue to be used as model agreements in the market today. The firm also assists clients expanding into other markets by supervising the work of local counsel in developing economies such as Iran, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Albania, Cote d’Ivoire, and Nigeria.

Main Areas of Practice:

Securities & Capital Markets:

The capital markets team represents investors and financial institutions in some of the most innovative securities transactions in the Turkish market. The team was instrumental in the first mandatory tender offer in Turkey, and Turkey’s largest foreign corporate bond issuance.

Contact: Kayra Üçer, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Contact: M. Mert Oğuzülgen, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Energy & Extractive Industries:

The energy team has significant experience in mine financing, major cross-border oil and gas pipelines, and internationally funded generation facilities. The team is also a pioneer in the unlicensed renewable energy field.

Contact:Ümit Hergüner, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Deniz Tuncel, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Private Equity & Funds:

The private equity team represents investment companies and investment funds in as well as various foreign private equity funds investing in Turkish companies. Contact: Kayra Üçer, Partner

Contact: Kayra Üçer, Managing Partner

Email: [email protected]

Contact: M. Mert Oğuzülgen, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Technology Media & Telecommunications:

The TMT team is an innovator in data protection and FinTech, and they represent major foreign and domestic news outlets, telecom operators, government entities, and investors on every imaginable regulatory, licensing and transactional matter.

Contact: Ufuk Yalçın, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Kayra Üçer, Managing Partner

Email: [email protected]

Intellectual Property:

The intellectual property team provides a full range of dispute and transactional IP law services, such as registration of patents, trademarks, utility models, industrial design, geographical signs, and domain names as well as copyright protection and the enforcement of IP rights.

Contact: Ayşe Hergüner Bilgen, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Şule Uluç, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Corporate & M&A:

The corporate and M&A team has been involved in the majority of significant deals in Turkey. The team values attention to detail, producing the most dependable due diligence reports and restructuring agreements, leading complex distressed asset purchases, and handling cases of bribery, fraudulent tender practices, insider trading, and tax fraud, as well as FCPA and UK Anti-Bribery investigations.

Contact: Ümit Hergüner, Senior Partner

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Kayra Üçer, Managing Partner

Email: [email protected]

Project Finance & Public Private Partnerships:

The project finance team effectively wrote the book on crossborder project finance, from Ottoman-era concessions agreements to modern PPPs, and drafting early IGA/HGAs that continue to serve as models for cross-border projects today. The team also advises on many BOT, BO, TOR, and innovative BLT infrastructure-related PPP projects.

Contact: Senem Denktaş, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Aslı Budak, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Dispute Resolution:

The dispute resolution team supports its clients through difficult commercial arbitration, collections and execution, bankruptcy, debt restructuring, tax, inheritance, insurance, breach of contract, and torts cases including cross-border disputes and the enforcement of foreign awards, and they are experts at lawsuits involving state and municipal entities.

Contact: Ayşe Hergüner Bilgen, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Tolga Danışman, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Banking & Finance:

The banking and finance team represents IFIs, export credit agencies, corporations, public institutions, banks, and bank consortiums in complex financial transactions. The team also handles acquisitions of financial institutions, cross-border Islamic finance issues such as Murabaha agreements and Sukuk offerings, and it advises on international compliance issues such as FATCA, Dodd-Frank, and international sanctions regimes.

Contact: Piraye Kuranel Başol, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Yeşim Api Şamli, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Real Estate:

The real estate team is expert in structuring and restructuring, commercial leases, zoning, licensing, permits, sale-leaseback transactions, and real estate finance. It advises the world’s leading international retailers, real estate funds, and developers in Turkey’s famous shopping and residential complexes, urban re-generation projects, ports, and tourism facilities.

Contact: Serkan Gül, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Nazım O. Kurt, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Competition & Antitrust:

The competition team stands out in the market for being led by a former Turkish Competition Authority (TCA) antitrust case manager, who can uniquely provide expert guidance in obtaining approvals and exemptions from the TCA, and effectively deal with unfavourable TCA decisions.

Contact: Kayra Üçer, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Shipping:

The shipping team handles a full range of complex aviation and shipping matters and maritime disputes. The team also has a well-established transactional practice that provides legal advice on port and transportation matters, as well complex aviation and shipping projects.

Contact: İsmet Bozoğlu, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Tolga Danışman, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Employment:

The employment team handles everything from C-suite termination to collective bargaining negotiations. The team also advises on employee transfers, employment contracts, termination and settlement proceedings, company restructuring, obtaining work permits, management audits, and adapting employee handbooks to Turkish law.

Contact: Kayra Üçer, Partner

Email: [email protected]

Contact: Ufuk Yalçın, Partner

Email: [email protected]