Turkey has widened state support for domestic companies that acquire foreign brands, shifting export policy beyond factory output toward ownership of distribution, customer relationships and intellectual property. The March 2026 measure matters to international investors because it treats outbound acquisitions as part of Turkey’s industrial strategy, while creating opportunities for foreign brand owners, lenders and strategic partners seeking Turkish capital, production capacity or regional market access.
From Export Support to Post-Acquisition Support
The change was introduced through Presidential Decision No. 11007, published in the Official Gazette on March 7, 2026. It rewrote Article 9 of Decision No. 5973 on Export Supports, the framework governing assistance for overseas company and brand acquisitions.
According to the Ministry of Trade, companies conducting production and supply operations in Turkey may now receive support for overseas premises associated with an acquired foreign company or brand, as well as for international advertising and marketing. The ministry told Anadolu Agency on March 16 that the objective is to help exporters acquire established brands, integrate forward into international markets and turn foreign sales networks into channels for products made in Turkey.
The distinction between acquisition financing and post-acquisition support is important. The regulation does not generally reimburse the purchase price of a foreign trademark. Instead, it addresses some of the operating costs that arise after closing, when an acquirer must maintain stores, offices, showrooms, marketing activity and customer visibility.
Under the rewritten Article 9, rent and shared-office membership expenses for approved foreign units are supported at 50 percent, up to TL7.5 million per unit annually. Overseas promotion and marketing expenditure associated with an acquired company or brand is supported at 50 percent, up to TL9.5 million annually for each country containing an approved foreign unit.
Marketing may also qualify in countries where the buyer has no approved unit, subject to trademark-registration conditions. The ceiling is TL9.5 million a year for companies that have an approved unit elsewhere. A company with no overseas unit may receive 50 percent support up to TL15 million annually if it holds a Turkish trademark registration and has registered, or applied to register, the relevant mark in the promotional market.
Promotion is supported for no more than four years. Rent support is also limited to four years in each country and to 25 units in total. These ceilings are statutory amounts under the March decision, while applicable limits and implementation details should be checked against current Ministry of Trade guidance before expenditure is committed.
Why Ankara Is Targeting Brands and Distribution
Turkey’s export base is large but remains heavily weighted toward manufacturing. The Turkish Statistical Institute reported that exports reached $273.36 billion in 2025, an annual increase of 4.4 percent. Manufacturing accounted for 94.3 percent of exports, but high-technology products represented only 3.8 percent of manufacturing exports. The trade deficit widened by 11.9 percent to approximately $92 billion as imports rose to $365.37 billion.
Those figures illustrate the policy challenge. Turkish factories are deeply embedded in automotive, textiles, appliances, food and industrial supply chains, yet contract manufacturers and component suppliers generally capture less value than businesses controlling brands, retail channels and customer data.
The Türkiye Exporters Assembly identified automotive exports of $41.5 billion in 2025, followed by chemicals at $31.9 billion and electrical and electronics products at $17.7 billion. Its chairman, Mustafa Gültepe, nevertheless highlighted financing and competitiveness pressures facing exporters, particularly in labor-intensive sectors.
Buying a recognized foreign brand offers one route around the slow and uncertain process of building consumer trust from the beginning. An established name can bring retailer relationships, trademarks, digital traffic, local personnel and access to markets where a Turkish supplier may previously have sold only through intermediaries.
Turkey has experience with this model. Yıldız Holding’s $850 million acquisition of premium chocolate company Godiva in 2008 remains the best-known example. The transaction demonstrated both the potential and complexity of using an international brand to transform a Turkish group’s global position. Godiva’s operations were subsequently reorganized by geography, illustrating how brand ownership, licensing rights, manufacturing and regional distribution can become separated over time.
The new program attempts to reduce the costs of the integration period, when an acquirer must preserve brand recognition while introducing Turkish production into the acquired company’s supply chain. It also reflects a broader evolution from subsidizing exports at the border to supporting control over the commercial infrastructure that determines how those exports reach customers.
Outbound Investment Is Becoming Economically Material
The measure arrives as Turkish companies expand their international asset base. The Ministry of Trade’s 2026 Outward Investment Survey found that Turkish residents held $69.2 billion in equity positions across 2,251 investments in 128 countries at the end of 2025.
Those businesses employed 174,484 people, including 158,793 foreign employees, and generated total turnover of $59 billion. They imported $10.7 billion of goods from Turkey and exported $8.1 billion back to Turkey. The figures show that outbound investment is not simply capital leaving the country. It can create bilateral supply chains, production orders and access to foreign customers.
UN Trade and Development data cited by Bloomberg HT put Turkey’s outward FDI stock at $72.9 billion in 2025, up from $63 billion in 2024. Differences between institutional datasets can reflect valuation, coverage and methodology, but both point to a rising international footprint.
The policy should therefore be read as part of Turkey’s two-way investment environment. Turkey attracted $13.1 billion of FDI in 2025, according to the Investment and Finance Office, 12.2 percent more than in 2024. Wholesale and retail trade received 32 percent of the reported inflow, manufacturing 31 percent, and information and communication 14 percent.
Foreign capital entering Turkey can finance or support the same companies that later acquire overseas brands. A foreign investor might provide equity to a Turkish producer, establish a joint venture, license technology or supply acquisition finance. Conversely, a foreign owner considering the sale of a non-core brand may find a larger pool of Turkish strategic buyers if post-closing international operations become less expensive.
The support is nevertheless aimed at eligible companies operating through the Turkish export-support system. A foreign group should not assume that establishing a Turkish subsidiary automatically secures eligibility. Ownership, production, supply, trademark, exporter-union membership and expenditure-documentation requirements must be examined against the implementing circular and the Ministry of Trade’s Support Management System.
Technology Acquisitions Receive a Separate Incentive
Article 9 maintains a more financing-oriented mechanism for acquisitions of foreign companies possessing advanced technology and capable of transferring that technology to Turkey.
Financial and legal advisory costs for such transactions are supported at 50 percent, up to TL28 million annually. For qualifying acquisition loans, the state can support five percentage points of interest on Turkish-lira loans and two points on foreign-currency or foreign-currency-indexed loans, subject to an aggregate ceiling of TL171 million.
The interest contribution cannot exceed 50 percent of the interest actually paid. It is available for payments made within five years of the first interest payment, and the supported credit calculation may cover no more than 50 percent of the acquisition price.
This is narrower than a general subsidy for buying a foreign brand. A consumer trademark without qualifying technology transfer would principally fall under the rent and promotional provisions, not necessarily the technology-acquisition interest support. The difference will make classification and evidence central to the application process.
For technology transactions, the government will need to assess whether the target possesses advanced capabilities and whether those capabilities can be transferred into Turkey. Investors should expect scrutiny of patents, software, technical employees, research facilities, licensing restrictions and the post-acquisition integration plan.
A foreign technology company considering a Turkish buyer may consequently need to negotiate not only valuation and control, but also where intellectual property will be held, whether engineers will remain abroad, what knowledge may be moved to Turkey, and which export-control rules apply. Government relations and regulatory liaison become relevant when the transaction crosses competition, investment-screening, data, defense or dual-use boundaries.
Execution Risks Will Determine the Policy’s Impact
The program reduces selected expenses, but it does not eliminate the usual risks of a cross-border acquisition. Brand valuation is especially sensitive because accounting value, legal ownership and commercial recognition are not interchangeable. A trademark may be registered in many jurisdictions yet depend on licenses, distributors or manufacturing standards that cannot be transferred freely.
Due diligence must map the target’s trademark classes, territorial rights, pending disputes, franchise obligations, online assets and related-party agreements. Buyers also need to establish whether promotional expenditure will be incurred by the eligible Turkish company, a foreign subsidiary or a local distributor, since that structure can determine whether an invoice qualifies for support.
Tax planning requires equal care. The location of the acquisition vehicle affects withholding taxes, interest deductibility, controlled foreign company rules, transfer pricing and the taxation of royalties. Moving production to Turkey can also change customs origin, labeling obligations and access to preferential trade arrangements. An acquired European brand does not automatically give Turkish-made goods European Union origin.
The prohibition on combining the new support with several overlapping programs is another practical constraint. Article 9 states that companies receiving the new rent or promotional support cannot claim specified benefits under the global supply-chain, foreign-unit rent, promotion, design, Brand, TURQUALITY, multichannel retail and export-consortium provisions for the same supported framework. Incentive mapping should therefore precede the acquisition and operating-budget decision.
Applications and subsequent payment claims also require disciplined record keeping. Contracts, bank records, invoices, proof of payment, trademark documents and the commercial relationship between buyer and supplier must be consistent. Marketing campaigns may need to satisfy language, territorial and brand-use rules, while overseas premises can be subject to inspection by Turkish trade counsellors or ministry representatives.
This is where market entry analysis, legal and tax compliance, investment-incentive structuring and project management intersect. Expo representation can support the commercial relaunch of an acquired brand, while import-export planning is needed to connect Turkish production with the target’s foreign distribution network. Government relations support may be necessary to coordinate approvals and resolve questions over eligibility before costs become irreversible.
What This Means for Foreign Investors
For foreign investors, the immediate opportunity lies less in receiving a Turkish subsidy directly than in participating in an expanding cross-border acquisition ecosystem. International brand owners considering divestments may encounter more Turkish buyers. Private equity funds and strategic investors can partner with Turkish manufacturers seeking distribution assets, while technology companies may structure transactions around production, research and knowledge transfer into Turkey.
A workable investment plan should begin by identifying whether the target is principally a trademark, an operating company or a technology-transfer platform. The next steps are to select the acquisition and incorporation structure, confirm incentive eligibility before signing or spending, complete intellectual-property and tax due diligence, and model the four-year cost of maintaining overseas units and marketing.
Investors must then align the operating model with customs, origin, transfer-pricing and regulatory requirements. Market-entry planning should determine which countries justify physical units, which can be served through distributors, and where trade fairs or local promotional campaigns offer the strongest return. Project management is required after closing to migrate suppliers, retain customers and document every eligible expenditure without disrupting the acquired business.
An FDI advisory firm such as fdiconsultancy.com can support this process through market-entry strategy, company incorporation and corporate structuring, incentive assessment, legal and tax compliance, government liaison, expo representation, import-export facilitation and on-the-ground project management. The essential point is that the new support rewards execution after acquisition. Its value will depend not on buying a foreign name alone, but on successfully linking that name to production, technology and export capacity in Turkey.