China remains one of the main players in the region with 2.9 billion operations. As revealed in the latest report by the CMS law firm and Emis, Serbia and Albania stood out among the most dynamic markets in 2018. Great interest for telecommunications and IT sectors, driven by the demand for mobile communication services, broadband and cable.
18/02/2019, Class Editori - Serbia, Albania, but also Slovenia and Slovakia. The surge of M&As in Central and Eastern Europe, although showing a slight decrease in the number of transactions, continues to collect record numbers, supported by key agreements that in 2018 brought the total value of the deals to 80.5 billion euro, thus reaching the second highest level in the last five years, and up 12.5% compared to 2017.
The big change compared to the previous 12 months is the partial withdrawal from China. China slipped to fifth place among the main foreign investors by volume of operations. The decline is mainly due to the issues of Cefc China, the Chinese energy and financial services giant, which in 2017 spent 9 billion dollars for a 14% share of the Russian giant Rosneft. The group, at the time led by Ye Jianming, later involved in corruption allegations in China, has been one of the main market players in Central Europe since 2015, and in particular in the Czech Republic.
Despite having to give way to the UK, as emerges from the latest report by the international law firm CMS and carried out in collaboration with Emis, China remains one of the major investors, both with individual initiatives and with projects related to the Belt and Road Initiative. Overall, in the analysed countries, Beijing spent 2.9 billion last year. Among the most relevant operations, the 1.2 billion investment by the Zijin Mining Group in the Serbian copper mines of Bor, the Hisense investment in the Slovenian company Gorenje, in Alibaba and in the Turkish e-commerce portal Trendyol.
"The analysis shows that, in spite of the general global uncertainty in trade relations, particularly between the United States and China, there are encouraging signs of growth and stability of the M&A sector in emerging European countries. Therefore, there is a great potential for growth and development in the Balkans and CMS, with its 17 offices in the area, attracts potential Italian and international investors. We are convinced that this positive atmosphere of trust will influence the growth of the sector in Europe and in particular in Italy ", explained the lawyer Pietro Cavasola, head of the M&A corporate department in Italian office of CMS.
Take for example, the current trends in Albania, where the agreements value has increased tenfold, whereas the number of transactions has increased by 300%. Serbia is also growing steadily. The transactions were 40% higher than in 2017, while the total value of the deals rose by 737% to 5.2 billion euro. Russia, Poland and Turkey in turn make up the podium for the largest number of M&A with 605 operations in Russia, 323 in Poland and 193 in Turkey.
Telecommunications and IT attract the largest number of investors. They totaled € 18.1 billion, "following the surge of consolidation deals throughout Europe and the growth in demand for mobile communications services, broadband and cable".
(Source:Class Editori)
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