Regional M&A slumps after promising second quarter

MergerThe third quarter saw fewer merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in the Middle East and Africa than in any quarter since 2010, with combined deal values far below the highs of 2007.

The results from Mergermarket come after a relatively promising second quarter in which the analysis firm recorded combined regional deals of $19.2 billion.

In contrast, the firm tracked just $7.3 billion of deals in the third quarter, a decline it attributed to a lack of inbound M&A.

For 2014 to exceed last year’s total deal value of $63.8 billion, there needs to be more than $30 billion of M&A activity in the last quarter alone, a sum that hasn’t been recorded in any three-month period since 2007.

One positive aspect of the results is a rise in outbound M&A – companies in the Middle East and Africa doing deals with firms based elsewhere, such as in Europe and the US.

“The outbound M&A outlook is fairing much better with deals valued at $17.3bn already above the annual 2013 total,” says the report by Mergermarket. “So far this year, outbound M&A from the region is the highest yearly total since 2011.”

©2014 funds global mena

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