Mena grapples with hard times

Abu Dhabi: Collapsing stock markets, disappearance of acquisition finance and corporate retrenchment virtually halted merger and acquisition (M&A) activities in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) in 2009 as the region grappled with the global financial crisis, the CEO of a regional private equity firm said here on Wednesday.

"Although deals worth a total $188 billion (Dh689.96 billion) were transacted between 2005 and 2009, there has been a considerable drop this year, to almost a virtual standstill. This is not expected to change in 2010," Gulf Capital's Karim Al Solh told delegates at a mergers and acquisitions conference.

He said based on a research conducted by Gulf Capital on M&A activities in the region during 2005-2009, the sectors that attracted most of the investments were financial, telecom, real estate and construction sectors.

"Banks and telecom licences are big ticket acquisitions and naturally attract the lion's share of these deals," Al Solh said.

He said that in 2010 the focus of private equity firms will likely be on sectors such as financial, telecom, healthcare, education and food.

Private equity players, with more than $11 billion at their disposal will likely be the key acquirers over the next few years, Al Solh added.