In the third quarter of 2017, a total of 76 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals were announced, a decrease of 10 percent when compared to a total of 84 transactions in the same period of 2016 in the Middle East and North Africa region. The MENA M&A deal value, however, increased by 23 percent to US$ 4.3 billion in Q3 2017, up from US$ 3.5 billion in the same period of 2016, according to the Ernst & Young (EY) M&A report for the third quarter of 2017.

Phil Gandier, MENA Transaction Advisory Services Leader, EY, said: "MENA executives continue to remain confident about the M&A market. According to the latest EY Capital Confidence Barometer, a record 65 percent of respondents indicated their intention to actively pursue deals in the next 12 months. With the recent oil prices, a slow-growth environment and the diversification agendas of many MENA countries still more in the planning than execution stages, MENA executives understand that they need to ‘buy’ versus ‘build’ to remain competitive."

Domestic M&A saw the largest y-o-y improvement, increasing by 17 percent in number and 343 percent in value. Furthermore, the average size of domestic deals rose by 258 percent compared to Q3 2016. However, inbound and outbound deals did not fare as well, decreasing by 21 percent and 26 percent, respectively compared to Q3 2016.

The largest deal announced in Q3 2017 (pending regulatory approvals and completion) was the acquisition of a minority stake in Banque Saudi Fransi for US$1.5 billion by Kingdom Holding Company (KHC).

Saudi Arabia ranked the highest among the MENA countries by value in Q3 2017 with five deals amounting to US$ 1.6 billion. Kuwait followed with five deals valued at US$ 914.8 million, and the UAE with 21 deals amounting to US$ 547.4 million.

Of the 76 MENA deals in Q3 2017, banking and capital markets was the top performing sector by deal value reaching US$ 1.5 billion, followed by the telecom sector with a total deal value of US$ 847 million.

Source: Wam