MA activity sinks to new lows in Middle East

(MENAFN- Arab News) Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) targeting companies based in the Middle East sank to new 12-month lows in October 2013, according to the latest series of M&A reports from Zephyr, the M&A database published by Bureau van Dijk. There were just 14 deals worth a combined $61 million recorded for the month compared to 25 transactions valued at $855 million in September, representing a decline of 44 percent by volume and 93 percent by value. In a year-on-year comparison, value has slumped 97 percent from $2,159 million while volume has fallen back at a slower rate of 62 percent from 37 deals in October 2012. Individual deal values involving companies based in the Middle East were static in October as no single deal broke $50 million. The largest deal by value involved Oman-based engineering, contracting and construction group Galfar Engineering and Contracting Company holding a rights issue comprising an enlarged equity stake of 13 percent worth $35 million. This one deal accounted for 57 percent of the Middle East's total M&A value for October ($61 million) and was the only one which targeted an Oman-based company during the month. Dealmaking in the Middle East region favored the form minority stakes in October and, of these nine, two involved venture capital fundraisings by the UAE-based start-ups; online cosmetics retailer GlamBox secured a little over $1 million from MBC Ventures, R&R Ventures and STC Ventures while PolitaiMo handed over a 20 percent stake to private equity investors in a seed round. Regional dealmaking largely dried up in October as M&A value was stripped away from countries such as UAE (October 2012: $1.51 billion; September 2013: $630 million; October 2013: $1 million) and Saudi Arabia (October 2012: $533 million; September 2013: $62 million; October 2013: $1 million). Conversely, M&A value returned to countries such as Oman, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq over the month, though in a year-on-year comparison even companies based in Jordan were impacted by decreased dealmaking as value slipped 52 percent from $21 million in October 2012 to $10 million. In terms of volume, Jordan led the way in October with 5 deals, though this represented a 17 percent decline month-on-month (September 2013: 6) and was down by almost three quarters year-on-year