Mr Okan Beygo > ASC Law Office > Istanbul, Turkey > Lawyer Profile

ASC Law Office
HARMANCI GIZ PLAZA K: 16
LEVENT
34410 ISTANBUL
Turkey

Work Department

Consultancy Team

Position

Founding Partner

Career

Okan Beygo is a Founding Partner of ASC Law. Okan – along with the firm’s other two Founding Partners, Murat Aksu and Zeki Çalışkan, and Managing Partner Doğan Coşgun – is a key member of the most experienced, and successful, senior law firm leadership teams in Turkey. Okan has practiced law for 35 years and is one of Turkey’s most well-connected lawyers, with extensive networks in Turkey and abroad, as well as being one of ASC Law’s primary rainmakers.

Okan heads the firm’s Consultancy Team, under which the Banking and Finance, Commercial, Corporate, Debt Restructuring, M&A and Capital Markets, and Project Finance practices are found. As such, Okan has played a key role in the firm’s most significant engagements, including the recent Turkcell Shareholding Restructuring, in which ASC Law represented both Ziraat Bank, Turkey’s largest bank, with regard to restructured and original financing of more than US$2 billion, and Turkey’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, the central party to the restructuring itself. CEE Legal Matters recognized this transaction as Turkey’s 2020 “Deal of the Year”.

Okan’s work prior to joining ASC Law, at the global White & Case law firm and inhouse at Citibank, the Turkish Garanti Bank and Doğuş Holding conglomerate, have given him in-depth expertise and know-how in, among others, banking and finance law.

Okan has been recognized by Who’s Who Legal in 2021 as a “Global Leader” in Banking and Finance, Capital Markets and Project Finance.

ASC Law, Founding Partner (2005-Present)
Dogus Holding A.Ş. and Garanti Bank A.Ş. (1998-2004)
Citibank A.Ş. (1997-1998)
White & Case LLP International (1995-1997)

Languages

Turkish, English, French

Memberships

Istanbul Bar

Education

LL.M., University of Geneva, International Law, 1993
LL.M., Marmara University Faculty of Law, International Public Law, 1988
LL.B., Marmara University Faculty of Law, 1986

Lawyer Rankings

Turkey > Banking, finance and capital markets

(Leading individuals)

Okan BeygoASC Law Office

ASC Law Office is a strong performer in representing Turkish and foreign lenders and borrowers on local law matters, as evidenced by the addition of eight new clients to the practice over the past year, including Turgut Aydın Holding and Eczacıbaşı Holding. Firm co-founding partner Okan Beygo anchors the team and is a 35-year veteran in the field; notably, he brings to bear significant in-house experience gained during stints at Citibank, Garanti Bank and Doğuş Holding. The three-partner department also includes Levent Yetkil and Ela Sarı, who are both well versed across a broad range of banking, finance and capital markets matters.

Turkey > Project finance/projects

Swift, responsive and easily accessible’, ASC Law Office’s project finance and infrastructure investments group specialises in representing debtors, sponsors and lenders across all core energy and infrastructure sectors. The team’s robust position in the area was recently evidenced by its takeover of Istanbul Grand Airport’s entire legal portfolio. Co-founding partner Okan Beygo steers the practice with strong support from increasingly prominent banking and finance specialist Levent Yetkil and finance partner Fulya Sert Topçu.

Turkey > Restructuring and insolvency

Demonstrating ‘extensive knowledge in restructuring and insolvency’, ASC Law Office’s strong presence in the area is reflected in its broad client roster. The group acts for a myriad of local and foreign debtors and banks on contentious and out-of-court restructurings, with its debt structuring and dispute resolution departments frequently acting in tandem to provide cross-practice advice. Co-founding partner Okan Beygo leads the debt structuring team and also steers the restructuring and insolvency practice with support from finance partner Levent Yetkil, who is noted for his experience in domestic and cross-border cases.

Turkey > Energy

ASC Law Office‘s team, which is headed by Okan Beygo and Levent Yetkil, has experience in handling the full range of matters relating renewable energy, including wind, solar, natural gas, and hydroelectricity. Other key members of the team include Merve Mert, who advises on infrastructure investments and project finance.

Turkey > Commercial, corporate and M&A

The team at ASC Law Office provides comprehensive day-to-day comprehensive services to insurers, banks, domestic and multinational corporates across sectors ranging from transport, engineering and retail to real estate, tech, construction and agriculture. The team is headed by founding partner Okan Beygo, who brings over three decades of experience to the practice space, and Ela Sarı, a specialist in M&A transactions.