Mideast sees $2bn deals last month

Going by the value of deals struck in the first month of 2010, the year promises to be a remarkable one for regional M&A activity.

The month of January (until the 29th) saw M&A deals worth more than $2 billion (Dh7.34bn) undertaken in the Middle East – just a shade below the $2.3bn worth of deals stuck in the first half of last year.

As expected, the maximum amount of deals in terms of value was done in the real estate and financial services sectors – the two sectors most impacted by the global economic downturn. M&A deals in the two beleaguered sectors were responsible for a whopping 89 per cent in terms of value of all deals undertaken in the Middle East during the first 29 days of the year, according to Mergermarket data.

Volume-wise, however, the two sectors were between them responsible for just three of the 11 deals undertaken during the period.

Global analysts and economists agree that emerging markets will lead the M&A wave in 2010, with bankers in Davos recently acknowledging the fact that emerging markets offered the best M&A and growth opportunities. Along with the Middle East, other emerging regions that offer good opportunities include Asia (China and India), Africa and Eastern Europe.

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