Middle East Q1 M&A Deal Count Remains Steady

• 13 Middle East deals valuing a total of US$ 1.5 billion recorded in first quarter
• UAE attracted highest number of deals during first quarter, including souq.com funding deal, which valued the UAE start-up at US$ 1 billion
• 39.7% decrease in value compared to Q1 2015
• Telecommunications has been most targeted sector in 2016
• Mergermarket will host inaugural Middle Eastern M&A Awards on 16th May

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 19th April 2016: Mergermarket, the world’s leading news and intelligence service for mergers & acquisitions, has released a roundup of MENA M&A activity in Q1, ahead of its Middle Eastern M&A and Private Equity Forum, to be held in Dubai on 16th May. Mergermarket’s latest data indicates that a total of 13 deals were announced in the first quarter, at a value of US$ 1.5 billion. The total number of deals is the same as in Q1 2015, but total deal value has declined by 39.7% from US$ 2.5 billion. Mergermarket identifies the Telecommunications sector as the most targeted in the Middle East, entirely as a result of Saudi Telecom Company’s US$ 494 million acquisition of Kuwait Telecommunications – the highest valued deal of the quarter.   

Kirsty Wilson, Global Research Editor at Mergermarket, commented:

“The UAE attracted the highest number of deals during the quarter, with the announcement of seven deals totalling US$ 447 million. The highest valued UAE deal of the quarter was the US$ 292 million acquisition of e-commerce platform Souq.com by Standard Chartered Private Equity limited, Baillie Gifford and International Finance Corporation, in a funding round that valued the company at US$ 1 billion.”

Deal value in the Telecommunications sector grew significantly, totalling US$ 494 million in the first quarter of 2016, compared with US$ 223 million in the same period last year. Other sectors that experienced considerable growth were Construction, which recorded US$ 135 million in Q1 2016, compared with US$ 41 million in 2015, and Transport, with deal value totalling US$ 90 million in the first quarter, compared with US$ 21 million in the same period last year.

Will Seivewright, Corporate/M&A Partner at Baker & McKenzie Habib Al Mulla, based in the UAE, commented:

“Cross-border M&A in Q1 2016 has continued to be very busy across the Middle East, following a record-breaking 2015 for cross-border M&A globally and regionally. The food and beverage and telecommunications sectors have been particularly active across the GCC, and notwithstanding the low oil prices and macroeconomic uncertainty, companies have continued their strategic expansion and/or consolidation plans. The region remains attractive to cash rich international private equity investors and given the current healthy pipeline of both M&A and private equity related deal activity, we expect this trend to continue into the next quarter.”

Mergermarket’s upcoming Middle Eastern M&A and Private Equity Forum will be attended by leading MENA transaction professionals, who will examine deal trends in the region as well as share ideas on the outlook for M&A in the Middle East. The Forum will be hosted in strategic partnership with Baker & McKenzie, EY, Standard Bank and Instinctif Partners. The Forum will be followed by Mergermarket’s inaugural Middle Eastern M&A Awards, which will recognise transaction advisory achievements across a range of sectors including Consumer, Mining & Utilities, Industrials & Chemicals, Medical & Biotech, Real Estate, and Financial Services.