ALBAWABA - The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region saw an unprecedented merger and acquisition activity last year, recording 754 deals, or 13 percent increase over the previous year, Ernst & Young (EY) said in a statement.
Historically, MENA has been a 500 to 600 deals market, said the statement, emailed to Albawaba.
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"Improving market conditions due to the highest oil prices within the last six years, business-friendly
reforms, and easing of government travel restrictions have boosted investor confidence, catalyzing a
surge in merger and acquisition activity in the region," the statement explained.
It said domestic deals represented 51 percent of the total merger and acquisition deal volume at 388 and 34 percent of the value at $28.4 billion. merger and acquisition is a term that means combining two entities into one.
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Outbound deals led in value with $40.1 billion and a total number of 201, while 165 inbound deals
amounted to $14 billion in total disclosed value.
MENA saw 137 deals involving government-related entities (GRE) in 2022, according to the statement. It said that was 78 percent higher than 2021 and the highest number since 2017.
GRE-involved deals accounted for 49 percent of the total disclosed deal value at $40.3 billion, the statement said.
It said that in terms of sectors, technology made up 25 percent of the total deal volume.
"In a bid to position itself as a hub for tech start-ups, the MENA region continues to improve ease of doing business while enacting favorable legislation across industries and creating an enabling investment landscape," the statement noted.
The United Arab Emirates dominated the lists of target countries as well as bidder countries by
value last year, followed by Saudi Arabia in both rankings. Egypt and Oman also commanded ranks in the top five MENA target and bidder countries.
