Political unrest plaguing the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region will delay planned deals with activity seen flat versus last year, Standard Chartered mergers and acquisitions executives said. Ralf Pilarczyk, regional head of M&A, Standard Chartered MENA and Apoorva Shah, managing director M&A, Standard Chartered, said the current unrest has quelled appetite for activity and more deals may be delayed despite the region offering immense potential over the long-term.
The deals that are on the radar right now may get announced but you may see a delay. With that in mind, activity being flat would be a possible outcome," Shah told Reuters last week. Middle East M&A values fell sharply during and after the financial crisis with buyers demanding better due diligence and sellers sticking to valuations at pre-crisis levels.
However, most bankers had been optimistic of a rebound in activity heading into 2011. The value of deal activity in the region on average was expected to rise 20 percent this year to between $28 billion and $30 billion, according to a banker's survey released earlier this year. But the unrest rocking the region has changed the landscape. The UK lender aims to build on its global footprint which spans Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the executives said, adding that more Middle Eastern institutions were lo
oking at emerging markets for deals.
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