About

Over her ten year tenure at the major Turkish conglomerate Akkök Holdings, Çağla Zıngıl has been involved in a number of important projects, including a series of recent shareholder disputes and a merger between Akkök Holdings’ two public companies, which coincided with the amendment period of the main Turkish Codes. ‘It was a really challenging situation to finalise the transaction in a vague regulatory environment’, Zıngıl says in reference to the deal. Her earlier noteworthy work includes the landmark share purchase of 50% of one of the holding’s companies to a foreign investor, as well a separate share purchase transaction from the Privatization Authority together with the same potential foreign investor. The unique experience that Zıngıl managed to acquire by negotiating against and together with the same party has had a positive impact on her career. Upon joining Akkök Holdings in 2007, Zıngıl successfully established the structure of the legal department from the ground up. ‘I had to form and structure the legal department within the holding company and partly in the group companies,’ she recalls. ‘All the legal services were being obtained from law firms and an outside counsel at the time. Corporate and legal documentation were being kept by the accounting departments or the outside counsel.‘ To change this approach, Zıngıl expanded the legal team, simultaneously forming and structuring the corporate and legal documentation filing systems. ‘We applied and perfected corporate governance principles and internal rules and guidelines within the group and supported the formation of the group’s code of conducts together with other relevant departments,’ she adds. ‘I believe we made our colleagues from other departments to trust us and enjoy and appreciate the legal support we provide’. Prior to assuming her present role, Zıngıl amassed substantial legal experience at Paksoy Law Firm and Turkish bank Garanti Bankası A.Ş.