Mergers and acquisition activity in the UAE defies slowdown

  • Date: 06-Sep-2020
  • Source: Arabian Business
  • Sector:Financial Markets
  • Country:UAE
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Mergers and acquisition activity in the UAE defies slowdown

With all the financial uncertainty in recent months, predictions of a slowdown in M&A activity were no surprise.

Still, we've actually seen a different story suggesting companies have seized opportunities to consolidate and grow. We recorded a significant increase in M&A interest among clients, with a YoY increase of more than 300 percent since 2019. In the last quarter especially, M&As have played an important role on the region's road to recovery.

The most notable activity is in the medical, pharmaceutical, hospitality, real estate, technology, and logistics sectors. Healthcare/pharma is an obvious choice right now, with investors seeing nothing but positive returns and growth in the short to medium-term.

Covid-19 has also forced a re-think of how healthcare businesses are managed; there has been some consolidation to reduce overheads and squeeze additional profits