Deloitte & Touche LLP is “optimistic” about mergers and acquisitions in Turkey in 2012, mostly in medium-sized companies, and expects government plans to sell assets to dominate activity. Energy, retail, internet retail, food and banking will lead Turkey’s M&A transactions this year, Deloitte Turkey’s corporate-finance partner Basak Vardar said in an emailed statement. The country had 241 M&A transactions last year, the highest in Turkey’s history, valued at about $15 billion, and foreign investors accounted for 74 percent of the total value of those deals, Vardar said.
Coca Cola (NYSE:KO) will invest more than $3 billion in the U.S. alone in the coming year, according to the company’s Chief Executive Mr. Muhtar Kent. [1] Mr. Kent also sounded optimistic about the U.S. recovery and said that the country has a bright future ahead. Coca Cola enjoys a very strong brand recognition within the country, so an improved economic environment could really help the company in the long run. Recently, the company also invested $980 million buying a stake in Aujan Industries in the Middle East. Coca Cola currently competes with companies like Pepsi (NYSE:PEP) and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE:DPS) and other domestic players.
Hasan Tuluy, a Turkish national and a strong supporter of inclusive growth, will become the new World Bank Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean as of January 1st, 2012. Mr. Tuluy will oversee the Bank’s lending, knowledge, and poverty-fighting operations in the region, which totaled US$9.6 billion in fiscal year 2011, according to The World Bank .
Yves-Marie Laouenan, deputy chairman of the Turkish-French Trade Association, stated that the bill that makes denial of the alleged Armenian genocide a punishable crime, which passed in the French Lower House on Dec. 22, was approved by a small community and does not represent the majority of French people.
