Türkiye is fighting inflation with expensive money. Companies are responding by looking for funding outside the banking system.
That is the real story behind the latest initial public offering wave. The Capital Markets Board of Türkiye approved seven initial public offerings (IPOs) in two weeks, reopening a market that had been quiet for months. The timing looks unusual. The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) is keeping monetary policy tight, credit is costly and the economy is trying to slow demand. The equity market is now being asked to provide funding to more companies.
The Capital Markets Board approved five IPOs in its June 24 bulletin: Orzaks İlaç, Ekim Turizm, Soho Giyim, İsvea Seramik and Golda Gıda. One week later, its July 1 bulletin cleared Şa-Ra Enerji and Saat ve Saat.
The driver has changed since the 2021-2023 IPO boom.
Companies need the market more than investors need new shares
During the previous IPO wave, retail demand carried the market. Millions of investors entered offerings, shares often hit daily upper limits for several sessions and IPOs became a short-term trade instead of a company-financing tool.
That psychology has weakened.
Borsa İstanbul has struggled to rebuild durable confidence after a long period of high inflation, uneven real returns and stronger alternatives. Deposit rates and money market funds offer daily returns with lower volatility. Gold remains a natural refuge for households facing currency anxiety, geopolitical risk and uncertainty over global rates.
Fresh liquidity for equities is narrower. Trading volumes can still rise, but a busy IPO calendar does not prove that risk appetite has returned.
The stronger demand is on the corporate side. Companies need capital. Bank credit is expensive, limits are tighter and debt-funded growth has become harder to carry. For many firms, the stock market now looks like the cheapest funding door still open.
High rates make equity funding more attractive
A bank loan brings interest cost, maturity pressure and repayment risk. In a high-rate environment, that burden can become heavy for companies with working-capital needs, investment plans or existing debt.
An IPO gives the company a different type of money. It can strengthen equity, reduce leverage, finance capacity expansion, support working capital or help retire debt without creating a new repayment schedule.
The new approvals should be read through the financing squeeze in the real economy. Capital markets are becoming a release valve for companies operating under tight credit conditions.
There is a policy logic behind this. Economic management wants Turkish companies to rely less on bank loans and use capital markets more actively. Deeper equity markets can broaden funding sources, improve balance sheets and reduce pressure on the banking system.
The danger sits in the quality of the companies brought to market.
The automatic IPO profit era is over
Retail investors are no longer treating every IPO as a guaranteed gain.
They are looking more closely at sector, debt, profitability, cash flow, valuation, use of proceeds and shareholder exits. Defensive sectors such as food and health can still attract demand more easily. Companies with weak margins, heavy debt or thin growth stories face a more skeptical market.
That shift is healthy. A functioning IPO market should reward strong companies and expose weak pricing. It should not turn every prospectus into a lottery ticket.
The test starts after listing. A successful IPO is not only one that receives demand during book-building. It is one that can hold investor trust after the shares begin trading.
The regulator's test is company quality
The Capital Markets Board's public application list shows a long queue of companies waiting for IPO approval, with the number close to 140. The list confirms strong corporate interest in the capital market. It also raises the burden on the regulator.
Some companies want to finance expansion, strengthen equity and institutionalize ownership. Others may be trying to escape high borrowing costs or repair strained balance sheets.
That distinction will define the next stage of the IPO cycle.
The stock market is a funding channel for companies. It cannot become an emergency room where fragile balance sheets are transferred to small investors. More approvals can help the market only if the companies arriving on Borsa İstanbul have durable earnings, manageable debt, transparent governance and a credible plan for IPO proceeds.
Pakun became a sharper warning sign
Pakun made the financial-quality debate more visible. The company had applied for an IPO in 2024 and later entered concordat, Türkiye's court-supervised debt restructuring process. After the first file was closed, a second concordat application brought a new temporary respite decision in late June 2026.
The court notice matters because it links the IPO queue directly to the credit squeeze. It gives investors a concrete reason to ask whether financially strained companies should be sent quickly to the stock market, or kept away from retail investors until their balance sheets are repaired.
The answer reaches beyond one company. A weak IPO does not damage only one share. It damages the next offering, the next prospectus and the next company trying to persuade investors that its balance sheet is different.
Türkiye needs deeper capital markets. Companies need alternatives to bank credit. The market also needs protection from the idea that every financing problem can be solved by selling shares to the public.
Trust must come before volume
The new IPO cycle can work if strong companies reach the exchange at fair valuations. It can reduce dependence on bank loans and give investors access to real corporate growth.
It can fail if IPOs become a balance-sheet repair channel for companies that could not survive expensive credit.
Liquidity is already limited. Too many offerings at the same time can divide the same investor base into thinner slices. Poor post-listing performance would push more households back toward deposits, funds and gold.
Investors will not return to equities because the IPO calendar is crowded. They will return when listed companies prove they are worth owning.
That requires stronger balance sheets, lower leverage, sustainable profitability, disciplined pricing and clearer governance. In this IPO cycle, approval is only the first gate. The real test is whether the company can keep public money after it receives it.
Türkiye is cooling credit through tight monetary policy and opening a funding path through the stock market. If that channel is built around strong companies, it can reduce the economy's dependence on bank loans. If it becomes a refuge for weak balance sheets, it will move corporate risk onto small investors.
The number of IPOs will not define this cycle. The quality of the companies will.
Sources: Capital Markets Board of Türkiye, Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye, official court notices, Konkordato Takip, Bosphorus News review and reporting.