ISTANBUL- The volume of mergers and acquisitions in Turkey amounted to some $12 billion in 2018, data from an Ernst & Young report showed on Wednesday, and it forecast the M&A market this year will be some $10-12 billion, which is below potential.
The value of 83 disclosed mergers and acquisition transactions last year totalled $9.3 billion and with the addition of non-disclosed transactions the volume reached $12 billion, according to the report.
In 2017, the M&A market volume totaled some $10 billion, with the value of 127 disclosed mergers and acquisition transactions standing at $7.4 billion.
Foreign investor interest in Turkey waned in 2018 following a collapse in the value of the Turkish lira , which lost almost 30 percent of its value against the dollar.
Mergers and acquistions amounted to $23.2 billion in 2012, but subsequently declined sharply due to geopolitical risks, downgrades in Turkey's sovereign credit ratings and an attempted coup in 2016, when M&A volume dwindled to $4.6 billion.
(Reporting by Ebru Tuncay; Writing by Sarah Dadouch; Editing by Daren Butler and David Dolan) ((Sarah.Dadouch@thomsonreuters.com;))
