Turkish law firm Ciftci Attorney Partnership has been working in cooperation with Clifford Chance since 2011, as the Turkish arm of the firm.
Focusses/specialisms
The firm regularly advises large international and Turkish companies in banking matters. Other areas of focus for the firm include M&A. The firm is known for is industry sector strengths in healthcare, infrastructure and energy.
Key clients
Key clients for the firm include Citibank, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Credit Suisse, HSBC,
Isbank, ICBC, JP Morgan, Bank of China, HSBC Bank, UniCredit, Kuwait Finance House, International Finance Corporation, Merrill Lynch International, Pfizer, Mapa Construction, Mastercard, Ziraat Bank and JPMorgan Securities.
Research period review: 33rd edition (2023/2024)
During the research period, the firm was active in banking, project finance, debt capital markets and M&A.
The banking team took part in financing transactions, refinancing’s and project finances, and was active advising borrowers in the aviation sector.
Deal highlights: 33rd edition (2023/2024)
Assa Abloy €8.5 million private acquisition
Garanti BBVA, Isbank, Yapı Kredi, TSKB, Denizbank €595 million restructuring
Citibank, Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC and Kuwait Finance House €3 billion bond issue
Emirates NBD, Dubai Islamic Bank, HSBC and Standard Chartered €2.5 billion bond issue
EBRD €45 million project finance
Client feedback: 33rd edition (2023/2024)
Banking
“Very responsive, good team allocation, big support from UK and Dubai teams.”
“They take actions very fast and they are hardworking.”
“Clifford Chance, Turkey's significant strength is the outstanding people in the team lead by the partner Sait Eryılmaz. I really appreciate how reliable and responsible Sait and the team are. I know the team has a lot of deadlines coming up and I'm impressed with how well the team is handling their responsibilities with these tight deadlines. The team also keeps impressing me with their ability to quickly respond to any queries raised with adequate information.”
"Very helpful, talented, experienced as well as patient in difficult countries of operations.
Served very well despite a number of challenge in these countries.”
“In Kutahya Transaction, CC Turkey team assisted us with its diligent work always.
In such a complex deal that has various parties including governmental bodies, financiers and companies, CC Turkey team has led us with its deep experiences.
In this transaction, they also advised us in Turkish jurisdiction in some aspects along with English law due to Project located in Turkey.
“With its huge expertise, CC Turkey team was also responsive to challenges and they were pre-prepared to the hurdles occurred thanks to they have already participated such deals in many times.
From beginning to end, since the CC Turkey Team was with us, we made our decisions effectively as a Lender Group in a very tight timeline and we were able to reach the financial close of the transaction on time thanks to CC Turkey Team.”
M&A
“The team works very hard and is always available to provide advice. They strike a great balance between business judgement and risk management. They are responsive, professional and a pleasure to work with. They have deep knowledge and show full commitment to delivering the best possible result.”
“Both Itır and Deniz offer their clients strong legal expertise, strategy and constant availability. They know how to find and simply explain solutions addressing the most complex difficulties.”
Project development
“Clifford Chance, Turkey's significant strength is the outstanding people in the team lead by the partner Sait Eryılmaz. I really appreciate how reliable and responsible Sait and the team are. I know the team has a lot of deadlines coming up and I'm impressed with how well the team is handling their responsibilities with these tight deadlines. The team also keeps impressing me with their ability to quickly respond to any queries raised with adequate information.”
“Clifford Chance, Turkey's significant strength is the outstanding people in the team lead by the partner Sait Eryılmaz. I really appreciate how reliable and responsible Sait and the team are. I know the team has a lot of deadlines coming up and I'm impressed with how well the team is handling their responsibilities with these tight deadlines. The team also keeps impressing me with their ability to quickly respond to any queries raised with adequate information.”
Project finance
“They have full grasp of the lender group environment and very experienced in electricity distribution and retail sales business.”
“They are fully aware of the benefits of the Company and act in favor of the company when they review project finance documents both commercially and from legal perspective.”
“We have been working together in many transactions for a long time together with Clifford Chance, one of the best offices in Turkey in terms of effective communication and quality of work. They have a great team and Sait Eryılmaz leads this team very effectively as a partner. Sait is a very well known professional in his field and he and his team are also very supportive for their clients and they can keep up with tight deadlines.”
“Clifford Chance Turkey's team members are really good at their jobs. They all have the required knowledge and more in their spesific area. Especially Ali Can is great. He assists with every part of the puzzle and ensures that the deal goes on smoothly as planned. I would like to personally thank to him for his endless supports.”
“Clifford Chance, Turkey's significant strength is the outstanding people in the team lead by the partner Sait Eryılmaz. I really appreciate how reliable and responsible Sait and the team are. I know the team has a lot of deadlines coming up and I'm impressed with how well the team is handling their responsibilities with these tight deadlines. The team also keeps impressing me with their ability to quickly respond to any queries raised with adequate information.”
“They take actions very fast and they are hardworking.”
Alican Altiparmak
“Very helpful, talented and reliable.”
“Well- informed and agile.”
“He is very friendly and prompt. very accessible and has deep knowledge on our deal.”
“Very good communication skill, responsiveness and competency.”
“Alican is great. He assists with every part of the puzzle and ensures that the deal goes on smoothly as planned. I would like to personally thank to him for his endless supports.”
“Well- informed and agile.”
Itır Ciftci
“Strong negotiation skills, a good leader with a valuable team, availability and in-depth support, long time experience in the sector and wise advice capability.”
Sait Eryilmaz
“Easy to reach, responsive.”
“Sait is very talented, very responsive lawyer who stands out for his commercial acumen. He is also well experienced in banking finance and provides to the point and solution-oriented advices in the process which are so valuable and vital asset. In addition, he handles stress so well and helps the team keep work in perspective.”
“Sait is very talented, very responsive lawyer who stands out for his commercial acumen. He is well experienced also in project development-infrastructure and provides to the point and solution-oriented advices in the process which are so valuable and vital asset. In addition, he handles stress so well and helps the team keep work in perspective.”
“Sait is very talented, very responsive lawyer who stands out for his commercial acumen. He is also well experienced in project development-energy and provides to the point and solution-oriented advices in the process which are so valuable and vital asset. In addition, he handles stress so well and helps the team keep work in perspective.”
“We have been working together in many transactions for a long time together with Clifford Chance, one of the best offices in Turkey in terms of effective communication and quality of work. They have a great team and Sait Eryılmaz leads this team very effectively as a partner. Sait is a very well known professional in his field and he and his team are also very supportive for their clients and they can keep up with tight deadlines.”
“Sait is very talented, very responsive lawyer who stands out for his commercial acumen. He is also well experienced in project finance and provides to the point and solution-oriented advices in the process which are so valuable and vital asset. In addition, he handles stress so well and helps the team keep work in perspective.”
Deniz Gocuk
“Hard working, committed, problem solving, in-depth knowledge of both legal matters and commercial matters, very good negotiator.”
Basar Kirka
“Basar is very talented adviser that is very responsive and good at client management. During we work together, he was always very involved to transaction. In addition to this, he can always assist us to reflect our financial positions to the legal documents the way what we preferred. Even in the tough legal & financial discussions, he always develop innovative solutions. He is always a good-listener in order to understand a problem in every aspect so, revert a right feedback to us all-time.”
