Egypt M&A activity up almost 4x to USD 1.5 bn so far this year, but still pales compared to recent high water mark in 2013
Egypt M&A activity up almost 4x to USD 1.5 bn so far this year: Some 14 transactions have seen total M&A activity in Egypt of USD 1.5 bn year-to-date in 2018 according to Mergermarket (pdf). Last year, companies closed some 10 transactions worth just USD 389 mn. Energy, mining and utilities made up the bulk of the transactions by value, with Mergermarket highlighting Mubadala’s acquisition of a 10% in the Zohr gas field from Eni, and SOCO International’s acquisition of Merlon Petroleum El Fayum Company. This is still a really anemic year compared to the recent high of more than USD 5.5 bn worth of activity in 2013.
Egypt’s market share of MENA M&A activity also grew to 6.3% so far in 2018, from 2.5% in 2017. The region’s M&A transaction value rose to USD 23.4 bn so far in 2018, from USD 15.9 bn in 2017. We’ll have more from last week’s M&A conference in tomorrow’s edition.