[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.11.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.11.3″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column _builder_version=”4.11.3″ _module_preset=”default” type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.11.3″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Findings from the CMS Emerging Europe M&A 2021 report, published last week in cooperation with EMIS, show that 2021 was a year of rebound and recovery for deal-makers in emerging Horea Popescu, Head of CEE Corporate M&A practice, CMS, comments:<\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u201c<\/span><\/span>M&A activity in emerging Europe experienced a resurgence in 2021, with buyers and sellers appearing to recover their confidence at the prospect of the pandemic being brought under control.\u00a0The year got off to a strong start with deal numbers\u00a0recovering\u00a0sharply in the first three months of the year,\u00a0reaching\u00a0levels\u00a0similar\u00a0 Stefan Stoyanov, Head of M&A Database at EMIS, says:<\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u201cIn 2021, we saw deal-makers adapt to the pandemic\u2019s new normal and push on with M&A.\u00a0The findings in this year\u2019s\u00a0report\u00a0demonstrate the return of deal-maker confidence,\u00a0as\u00a0quarterly deal values\u00a0exceeded EUR 20bn for five quarters in a row\u00a0and\u00a0megadeals firmly\u00a0returned\u00a0to\u00a0the agenda \u2013 with each of the\u00a0year\u2019s\u00a0top ten deals priced at more than EUR 1bn.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/u><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/span> Private equity is now firmly embedded in the\u00a0dealmaking\u00a0culture of emerging Europe.\u00a0Building on\u00a02020\u2019s buoyant numbers, private equity activity\u00a0rose further with\u00a0deal numbers at an all-time high (399) and\u00a0values up\u00a018%\u00a0(EUR 23.75bn).\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/u><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n IPOs also enjoyed a bumper year as the number of listings surged to 116 (up from 26)\u00a0and values\u00a0jumped\u00a0to EUR 13.47bn (up from EUR 4.79bn).\u00a0These\u00a0figures reflect the success of regional stock exchanges,\u00a0such as Warsaw,\u00a0Bucharest\u00a0and Istanbul,\u00a0in attracting new listings,\u00a0while those in London, Amsterdam and New York continued to appeal to companies seeking international investors.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/u><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n \n Leading sectors<\/span><\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/u><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n Telecoms and IT topped the deal tables\u00a0once again and accounted for five of the ten biggest deals of the year. Transaction numbers rose to 450 (up from 333) and the sector saw the overall highest deal value at EUR 23.4bn. Significant Telecoms deals included the sales of\u00a0Polkomtel\u00a0Infrastruktura\u00a0 Real Estate and Construction was the second busiest sector, experiencing 340 deals (up from 310) and a 3.8% rise in deal value (EUR 9.83bn). Despite experiencing a 19% drop in deal numbers, offices remained the top real-estate sub-sector. Similarly, Warehousing and logistics also maintained its sub-sector ranking, reflecting the ongoing shift to e-commerce. Manufacturing was the third busiest sector with 253 transactions (up from 236) and second by value at EUR 18.26bn. Meanwhile, Mining, Oil and Gas was the third largest sector by value at EUR 10.59bn, though it was one of the few sectors where deal numbers declined (down to 105 from 124).<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/u><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n Growing investor\u00a0interest in climate action helped drive up the overall number of energy and utility deals to 122 (from 73),\u00a0and the sector accounted for 6% of overall\u00a0transactions (up from 4.3%). The renewables sub-sector saw particularly impressive growth in both deal activity and value, numbering\u00a081\u00a0deals (up from 44)\u00a0and a fourfold increase in value.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/u><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/u><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n Country hotspots<\/span><\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/u><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n Three notable M&A hotspots included\u00a0Croatia, Romania and Ukraine, whose deal numbers each exceeded those achieved prior to the pandemic. Croatia saw deal numbers and values hit record highs of 69 (up 60.5%) and EUR 1.8bn respectively (387.4%). Meanwhile, deal activity in Romania also made the record books (195 transactions, up 43.4%), however, deal value was down by 9.6% (EUR 2.37bn). Ukraine\u2019s\u00a0deal numbers\u00a0strongly recovered (up 57.1% to 143) and the country\u2019s overall deal value doubled to EUR 1.72bn.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/u><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/u><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n Foreign and regional investment reaches new heights<\/span><\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/u><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n The\u00a0United States was\u00a0the\u00a0most active foreign country investor.\u00a0US deal numbers rose\u00a0to a\u00a0decade high of 154 (up from 94)\u00a0and values more than doubled\u00a0to reach a record high of\u00a0EUR 9.17bn.<\/span><\/span><\/u><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n European investors\u00a0also demonstrated a keen\u00a0appetite\u00a0for deals in emerging Europe\u00a0and, by deal activity,\u00a0the\u00a0top three European investors were the\u00a0UK (106\u00a0deals), Germany (81\u00a0deals) and France (54\u00a0deals).\u00a0These same three countries also topped the charts for European investor deal value; Germany led\u00a0the pack\u00a0(EUR 3.13bn), with\u00a0the UK (EUR 2.08bn)\u00a0and\u00a0France (EUR 1.91bn)\u00a0following in second and third place respectively.\u00a0The UAE moved up the foreign investor ranking\u00a0to secure\u00a0tenth position for its deal numbers, the highest outside the US and Europe.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/u><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n Cross-border M&A\u00a0remained buoyant,\u00a0with\u00a0deal numbers up 28.9% (985\u00a0deals) and values up 59.8% (EUR 56bn). Meanwhile, domestic deal values\u00a0reached\u00a0EUR 38.3bn\u00a0(up 48.1%),\u00a0with deal numbers up 9.5% (1,030). Russia was the largest single investor country overall, with 564 deals worth EUR 37.3bn\u00a0\u2013\u00a0almost all (96%) of these being\u00a0domestic transactions.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/u><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/u><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n Outlook for 2022<\/span><\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/u><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n Radivoje Petriki\u0107, CEE Corporate Practice, CMS, comments: \u201cM&A professionals have shown they are capable of adapting to whatever challenges 2022 might throw at them.\u00a0Although uncertainty about the impact of new variants and the prospect of economic fallout from higher inflation\u00a0has\u00a0led to a more cautious end to the year, our findings show that deal-maker confidence has largely been restored.\u00a0In 2021, the main drivers of deals\u00a0were long-term underlying trends, such as\u00a0digitalisation, and with the pace of change and shift to digital continuing\u00a0to accelerate, the fundamentals for an active\u00a0dealmaking\u00a0market remain\u00a0firmly\u00a0in place.\u201d<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/u><\/u><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The full CMS Emerging Europe M&A 2021 report can be found\u202f<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span>here.\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Findings from the CMS Emerging Europe M&A 2021 report, published last week in cooperation with EMIS, show that 2021 was a year of rebound and recovery for deal-makers in emerging Europe.\u00a0Not only did\u00a0the region\u00a0recover from\u00a0its dip in\u00a02020,\u00a0with\u00a02021\u00a0transaction levels\u00a0rising\u00a0to 2,015\u00a0deals\u00a0(up 18.2%), but\u00a0emerging Europe\u00a0saw overall deal value reach its highest level since 2013 \u2013 increasing\u00a0to EUR 94.27bn […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3312,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bcch-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/span>PE activity\u00a0continued\u00a0to\u00a0grow\u00a0and IPOs\u00a0took off\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/u><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n