UAE

UAE was the most favoured destination for M&As in H1 2022

The UAE has been the most favoured destination so far this year for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the MENA region, with 105 deals signed worth $14.2 billion, according to an EY report.

The region recorded 359 M&A deals worth $42.6 billion during the first six months of 2022, up 12% year- on-year (YoY) “driven by continued post-pandemic economic growth across the region fostered by high oil prices and growing confidence in corporate boardrooms,” according to the EY MENA M&A Insights report.

“Despite the global economic uncertainty, we are continuing to witness a positive trajectory in M&A activity across the MENA region as economic diversification initiated by governments continue to buoy interest in strategic transactions,” said Brad Watson, EY MENA Strategy and Transactions Leader.

Fiscal reforms, particularly in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, aimed at strengthening cooperation between the public and private sector, are increasing the appetite of investors, while government-led initiatives across the board are supporting the region’s burgeoning start-up ecosystem that further increase deal activity,” he added.

The report said the deal activity was significantly driven by involvement of private equity (PE) or sovereign wealth funds (SWF), accounting for 35% and 38% of the total deal volumes and values respectively in the period.

Other key points in the report:

Among the domestic PE or SWF deals, UAE topped with 18 deals
Saudi Arabia was the most active acquiring region with 27 deals
Deals involving government-related entities (GRE) saw a total deal value of $$16.9 billion, accounting for 40% of total disclosed deal value
Top five MENA target countries by deal value were UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Oman
Egypt was the second most targeted country with 65 deals worth $3.2 billion
Saudi Arabia followed with 39 deals worth $2.8 billion, Morocco with 18 deals worth $1.8 billion and Oman, with 10 deals for $0.7 billion.
Overall top five target subsectors by deal value, were transportation, consumer products, telecommunications, real estate and power & utilities