The study reveals that the main driver for transactions in 2022 was entry into new markets (39%), a slight drop from 43% in 2021. There was also a decline in deals involving the acquisition of a competitor from 32% in 2021 to 28% in 2022 – most likely reflecting a step back from acquisitions seeking a post-pandemic consolidation of revenues and costs, according to CMS.
The “CMS European M&A Study 2023”, now in its 15th edition, covers 509 share and asset deals on which CMS advised during 2022 – a record number of deals in a year, showing that there have been plenty of deal opportunities despite the difficult macroeconomic environment caused by rising inflation and interest rates, slowing growth and increased geopolitical tension.
“Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) performed well in 2022. Poland recorded 25 M&A transactions for the study, Romania ranked second, with ten transactions, equal to the Bulgarian market. M&A markets in Hungary, Croatia and the Czech Republic are close behind with eight, seven and six transactions, respectively, consolidating the evolution trend of recent years following the pandemic. Despite adverse regional and global macroeconomic and political developments, M&A activity in the region shows that market players can readily adapt to new circumstances and that CMS is extremely well placed to confront the challenges and complexities that lie ahead,” said Horea Popescu, Head of CEE Corporate M&A at CMS and managing partner of CMS Romania.
“There are many business opportunities in CEE that continue to attract investments. The main deal drivers in the region were new market entries and acquisitions of competitor companies, which together last year accounted for 77% of the transactions assessed in our study, CMS European M&A 2023. We are also witnessing a consolidation of the new status of the Romanian market, which tends towards the performances of Poland, gaining in complexity and in the degree of sophistication of the transactions. We are pleased to be able to contribute, through CMS’s multi-jurisdictional expertise, to this evolution,” said Rodica Manea, Corporate M&A partner, CMS Romania.
“The challenging M&A landscape last year has not resulted in considerable movement from the deal rhythm found in more benign years. We remain cautiously optimistic about deal activity in Europe in 2023 – notwithstanding that many of the adverse economic and political factors that have historically impacted on M&A growth are still evident. The fact that our team has still delivered a record number of M&A transactions reflects the strength of our corporate offering throughout Europe,” said Louise Wallace, partner and Global Head of the CMS Corporate/M&A Group.