The M&A scene in the Middle East differs somewhat to that world-wide, where deal activity rose last year 47 per cent to US$3.5 trillion, the highest value globally since 2007, based on Thomson Reuters data.
The most active M&A sector globally was media while in the Middle East property was the top performer. The biggest deal globally last year was the announced merger between Time Warner Cable and Comcast, the two biggest US cable providers, creating an entity with an enterprise value of about US$70 billion.
Ninety-five deals with a value greater than $5bn were announced last year, more than double the value and number of large-cap deals announced in 2013.
“There is less large corporate M&A both intra-region and out of region [than in Europe and US] and that’s because the listed company base in the region is still quite small, so actually your largest corporates are really the largest family groups,” says Richard Rollinshaw, a Dubai-based partner with advisory PwC.
“There aren’t as many large companies like [in the US and Europe] that are independent enough and act as large corporates in their own right for whom M&A is one of their growth levers.”
Although big ticket deals in the region are rare, last year saw the closing of the merger of the aluminium smelters Dubal and Emal into Emirates Global Aluminium, which has an enterprise value of $15bn.
Also there is a large mid-cap sector in the United States and Europe, unlike the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.
“There is a strong underlying mid-cap sector in both of those geographies [US and Europe] that provides a steady flow of M&A volume, with transaction sizes around the $500 million to $1bn mark,” says Patrick Delivanis, Morgan Stanley’s head of investment banking for Mena. “It is very big and that sector provides a base of M&A activity, which for the most part does not currently exist here because the economy is structured in a different way. There is more government sector participation in the local economy here than in places like the US or Europe, and as a result the private sector represents a smaller share of the overall economy.”
Although M&A laws in the region are being amended, there needs to be more flexibility when it comes to doing stock deals, experts say.
Also many of the publicly traded firms have foreign ownership restrictions, dampening appetite for such deals.
“We see fewer public M&A deals in the Middle East than what we see in the US and in Europe,” says Chris Lester, an Abu Dhabi-based counsel with Latham & Watkins.
“In 2014 we saw a lot of large public M&A deals in US and Europe, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector. We don’t see that here, partly because of difficulty of doing stock deals,” he says.
“Foreign ownership restrictions also limit M&A in the Middle East.”
dalsaadi@thenational.ae
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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UAE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani
Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Salem Rashid, Mohammed Al Attas, Alhassan Saleh
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Forwards: Fabio De Lima, Caio Canedo, Ali Saleh, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri
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Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
The biog
First Job: Abu Dhabi Department of Petroleum in 1974
Current role: Chairperson of Al Maskari Holding since 2008
Career high: Regularly cited on Forbes list of 100 most powerful Arab Businesswomen
Achievement: Helped establish Al Maskari Medical Centre in 1969 in Abu Dhabi’s Western Region
Future plan: Will now concentrate on her charitable work
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Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
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The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
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Power: 720hp
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Price: Dh1,100,000
On sale: now
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