Executive Summary
- The GCC market, in the first three quarters of 2023 witnessed a noticeable reduction in M&A activity concluding in the closure of 128 M&A transactions a stark 22 year over year decline Notably, the UAE remained the primary magnet for investor interest, maintaining its trend of dominance over successive quarters UAE claimed the lion's share with 77 transactions, constituting an impressive 60 of the total completed transactions during 9 M 2023 Following in the hierarchy were Saudi Arabia at 23 trailed by Kuwait and Qatar contributing 6 and 5 respectively Oman and Bahrain followed, each carving out 4 and 2 of the total completed transactions throughout this period It is worth noting that, apart from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, all the other markets in the region saw a substantial year over year decline in their M&A
activities - It is important to highlight that the closed transactions encompassed companies spanning diverse sectors That said, the Consumer Discretionary, Industrials, and Information Technology sectors emerged as the primary centers of activity during the initial three quarters of 2023 jointly constituting over 37 of the total completed transactions
- Shifting focus, it is worth mentioning that GCC targets experienced a slight decrease in foreign buyer interest during this period They concluded a total of 34 transactions, which was marginally lower than the 39 transactions in the preceding year, marking a 13 year over year decline Notably, UAE targets continued to be the prime attraction for foreign buyers finalizing 25 transactions in the initial three quarters of 2023
