The number of mergers and acquisitions (M & A) in Bulgaria doubled in the first half of last year compared to the same period in 2017 and the leading investor in our country are companies registered in South Africa. Also between January and June, Bulgaria is part of two of the top 10 of the largest transactions for the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region, reports money.bg

This shows the annual Ernst and Young (EY) Merger and Acquisitions Barometer for the first half of 2018. According to it, in the period under review last year, the mergers and acquisitions were 27 as the number of 12 for the same months of 2017. Under this indicator, our country remains significantly behind most of the countries in the region, with most trades being in the Czech Republic – 167, Poland – 73 and Romania – 72. For the whole region, transactions were 534 or 61 more than the first half 2017 years. They have a total value of $ 13.4 billion, with the largest volume in property, trade and technology.

There are transactions in the Czech Republic worth close to that of all transactions in the other CEE countries. Those realized in the Central European state total $ 7,033 billion. “The two largest transactions contributing to the total value of transactions in the Czech Republic are the acquisition by PPF Group of Telenor’s telecoms assets in Hungary, Bulgaria, Montenegro and Serbia ($ 3.4 billion) and the announcement by the private capital investor Advent International Corporation acquires Zentiva Group as, a pharmaceutical company based in the Czech Republic ($ 2.2 billion), “EY said. The value of the agreements in Hungary and Poland exceeds 1 billion dollars. These in Bulgaria are worth a total of $ 106 million, with only Latvia and Serbia being the only countries behind us.

Regarding the fact that the report South Africa has been cited as the most important investor in the period under review, we recall that the registered NEPI Rockcastle Fund acquired the Serdica Center and Paradise shopping malls.

The barometer shows that the biggest deal for the first half of 2018 in CEE was the acquisition of Liberty Global’s European assets in Germany, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic by Vodafone Group PLC, estimated at 23 billion dollars. Second is the asset agreement of the Telenor telecommunication group in Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary by the Czech PPF Group. The total value of the transaction exceeds $ 3,443 billion. Third is the acquisition of the Czech Zentiva Group from the US-based Advent International Corporation for $ 2.197 billion. Bulgaria is part of another of the top 10 deals in the region. This is the global healthcare business deal for Teva Pharmaceutical by CVC Capital Partners Ltd. This $ 703 million deal has an impact on 11 more markets in the region.

The report from EY states that the sum of 13.4 billion dollars for the region does not include five of the transactions. These include the purchase of Liberty Global in Germany, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic from Vodafone Group PLC and Teva Pharmaceutical Global Products Healthcare Business by CVC Capital Partners Ltd., as well as the acquisitions of AdsWizz Inc. Pandora Media Inc., Pack & Fly Group from Safe Bag S.p.A and OOO Karakash Agro from a Russian investor. These transactions cover several jurisdictions and it is not possible to separate the value of assets from CEE.