M&A activity in Ukraine will increase in the second half of 2021, according to a new report from Aequo and Mergermarket.
This is stated in a press release from the law firm Aequo.
The report “Catching the rebound: M&A in Ukraine” highlights the key M&A trends in Ukraine in the context of COVID-19, as well as the prospects for the development of the Ukrainian M&A market in 2021 and beyond.
It is noted that the total value of public M&A transactions in Ukraine fell to € 171 million in 2020, which is the lowest annual rate since 2015.
Meanwhile, in terms of the number of deals, the market showed greater resilience as invest.com/investing-in-ukraine/service-for-investors/" rel="dofollow">investors continued to finance smaller deals. In 2020, 54 deals were concluded in Ukraine, which exceeded the annual figures recorded in the period from 2014 to 2017.
“M&A activity in Ukraine is in line with global trends and follows a pandemic curve, as in other countries. During the lockdown in early spring, we saw clients become extremely cautious. However, starting in June (2020 - ed.), activity began to recover " notes Anna Babich, partner and head of M&A practice at Aequo.
The largest Ukrainian deal in 2020, the cost of which was publicly announced, was the acquisition of the Dnipro Hotel by Smartland from the state for € 36 million.
"This sale indicated a significant trend that is now observed in Ukraine: the planned privatization of a large number of state assets," commented in Aequo.
Last year, there were only six transactions involving private equity funds, four less than in 2019. However, the total transaction value is € 13 million, which shows an annual growth of 22%.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, 80 transactions in the field of mergers and acquisitions € 1.19 billion worth were declared in Ukraine in 2019, which is the highest annual rate since 2013.
