M&A activity will be stronger in 2010

Auditing and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers is optimistic that merger and acquisition activity in Vietnam will pick up this year.

In a preliminary review, the firm has said its expectations of a better year were based on a slow start but a strong finish recorded in 2009.

Last year saw the completion of 295 M&A deals worth 1.138 billion USD. Of this, the fourth quarter saw around 100 deals worth almost 600 million USD, while the figures for the first quarter were just around 20 deals and 100 million USD.

Of the 295 M&A deals, 200 worth 475 million USD were domestic, 90 worth 660 million USD were the purchase of Vietnamese companies by foreign firms and the remaining five deals worth 3 million USD were of Vietnamese firms buying foreign companies.

This compared to a total of 167 M&A cases completed in 2008, around 77 percent of 2009. However the value of the deals in 2008 was almost the same as last year’s, at 1.117 billion USD.

In 2007, though only 108 deals were completed, their value was recorded at 1.719 billion USD.

VietNamNet/VNA

Tags: Vietnam business news, Vietnam M&A