Schoenherr ties up with Türkoğlu & Celepçi

Central European law firm Schoenherr has entered the Turkish market by formalising its relationship with Istanbul law firm Türkoğlu & Celepçi. The cooperation will provide Schoenherr a bridgehead into what is the firm’s single largest market and Europe’s fastest growing economy.

Schoenherr has been following a strategy of Central European expansion since the mid nineties when it opened an office in Bucharest. Since then the firm gradually continued its client-driven growth and extended its coverage into the region.

Law firm Türkoğlu & Celepçi was established by Erhan Türkoğlu and Levent Celepçi in 2005 and specialises in corporate and m&a transactions, privatisations, financings and commercial litigation.

Turkish regulations restrict foreign law firms in establishing local branches and instead Schoenherr has been assisting clients in Turkey through its dedicated Turkish desk in Vienna working closely together with Türkoğlu & Celepçi since 2007. The Istanbul office and Vienna Turkish desk have a combined team of 24 lawyers, including 4 partners. Schoenherr partner Markus Piuk will be based in Istanbul, while Alexander Popp (partner), Karaman Nidal (junior partner) and Kazim Yilmaz (associate) will mainly be working on from Vienna.

Schoenherr’s Turkish desk focuses on in- and outbound M&A transactions as well as on energy projects in Turkey. In a recent outbound transaction, the team advised Turkcell in its bid for Cosmofon, one of three mobile operators in Macedonia, as well as the MET Group of Companies in various energy projects throughout the Balkans.