Bulgaria's M&A Market to See Smaller Number of Deals in 2012 - Report

Some 30-60 M&A deals are expected to be sealed in Bulgaria in 2012. Photo by fakti.bg

The mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market in Bulgaria is expected to shrink to a total of 30-60 deals in 2012, with the total volume of amounting to up to USD 700 M, according to Diana Nikolova from the Ernst & Young (EY) consultancy.

In a Wednesday interview for Bulgaria on Air, she said that the consumer services sector and the financial and pharmaceutical sectors were expected to generate the biggest number of acquisitions.

Meanwhile, agriculture and the automotive and mining industries were expected to dispose of unnecessary assets, Nikolova specified.

According to the analysis of Ernst & Young, there is a global trend of leading corporations avoiding major restructuring and business development projects to focus on inside issues caused by the economic crisis.

Companies' biggest fears are related to payment delays in the construction sector, with half of the managers expecting an increase in bad loans in the sphere.

According to the experts, an increasing number of companies are willing to sell and the buyers' market will expand.

EY suggests that investors will opt for cautiousness rather than trust, which will lead to the anticipated decrease in the number of deals as compared to previous years.

At the same time, around 30% of the top managers expect financial market conditions to deteriorate over the next six months and every third company is pessimistic about the economic outlook.

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