Ernst & Young, one of the world’s leading professional services firms, unveiled a report yesterday titled “Mergers and Acquisitions 2009,” which was conducted for the eighth time this year. According to the report 171 deals were recorded in 2008, while this figure fell to 116 in 2009. Of these deals the value of 51 has been disclosed, accounting for 44 percent of the total. The total volume of deals conducted in the last quarter of 2009 fell to $3.9 billion, while this figure was $16.3 billion in the same period of 2008, despite the fact that the crisis started to take its toll on the economy as of this period. The report predicts that the total merger and acquisition volume for the October-December period of 2009 will reach some $5.7 billion after the details of several undisclosed deals and privatizations are announced.
All of the mergers and acquisitions that took place in 2009 were worth less than $1 billion, the report said. The share of deals conducted by foreign investors also declined to the lowest level in five years, and domestic investors surpassed foreigners in the number of deals for the first time since 2004.
According to the report the largest deal was the privatization of the Turkish Sugar Refineries Corporation’s (TÜRKŞEKER) facilities in Kastamonu, Kırşehir, Turhal (Tokat), Yozgat, Çorum and Çarşamba (Samsun), known as Portfolio C, which generated $606 million. Regarding expectations for 2010, the report noted that the volume of mergers and acquisitions is expected to be some $10 billion with less high-value deals. The energy sector is expected to continue attracting investors.
