As of 8:00 a.m. EDT / 3:00 p.m. Türkiye time on September 16, 2026. This brief reviews developments from September 15 through September 16.

Ford Otosan, the Ford-Koç Holding joint venture and one of Europe's largest commercial vehicle manufacturers, signed a strategic supply agreement on September 15 with a U.S.-based electric vehicle battery thermal management system supplier. The agreement covers the supply of liquid cooling plates and thermal interface materials for Ford Otosan's next-generation electric Transit and Ranger platforms. The five-year supply agreement is valued at approximately $320 million.

This is a significant Turkish-U.S. supply chain transaction in the automotive electrification space. While structured as a supply agreement rather than an equity acquisition, the transaction has M&A-adjacent characteristics: the long-term, high-value nature of the commitment creates economic interdependence that may evolve into a strategic equity relationship. Turkish automotive suppliers and OEMs entering U.S. supply agreements should pay particular attention to the governing law and dispute resolution provisions, intellectual property ownership of jointly developed components, change-of-control provisions that could affect supply continuity, and export control compliance for any technology transferred between the parties.

The U.S. supplier's battery thermal management technology may be subject to EAR controls if it incorporates dual-use components or processes. Ford Otosan's manufacturing operations in Türkiye and the Netherlands create a multi-jurisdictional compliance framework that must be addressed in the supply agreement.

Ecolab completed its acquisition of CoolIT Systems, a Calgary-based developer of direct liquid cooling (DLC) solutions for high-density data center servers, on September 15. CoolIT's technology addresses the thermal management challenges created by AI accelerator chips and high-performance computing workloads that exceed the capacity of traditional air cooling.

The acquisition positions Ecolab's data center water treatment and cooling business to offer integrated thermal management solutions combining chemical water treatment with direct liquid cooling hardware. Post-closing integration should address the compatibility of CoolIT's hardware with Ecolab's existing data center chemical treatment programs and the treatment of CoolIT's existing OEM relationships with server manufacturers.

S&P Global completed its acquisition of Agusto & Co., a Lagos-based credit rating agency and financial research firm covering sub-Saharan African markets, on September 15. Agusto provides credit ratings, industry research, and financial analysis for Nigerian and broader West African financial institutions, corporates, and government entities.

The acquisition expands S&P Global's emerging market credit rating coverage into sub-Saharan Africa, a region with significant infrastructure financing needs and growing capital market development. Post-closing integration should address the treatment of Agusto's existing rating agreements, the independence requirements applicable to credit rating agencies under Nigerian and applicable African securities regulations, and the integration of Agusto's research methodology with S&P Global's global rating standards.

The Ford Otosan–U.S. EV supply agreement is a significant Turkish-U.S. automotive supply chain transaction with long-term strategic implications. The Ecolab–CoolIT and S&P Global–Agusto transactions reflect continued strategic investment in data center infrastructure and emerging market financial services respectively.

This publication is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.