April 2023 top M&A deals in emerging markets by region
Emerging Europe
Dutch-based telecom and media company United Group, majority-owned by PE firm BC Partners, announced the sale of its mobile tower infrastructure in Bulgaria, Croatia, and Slovenia to TAWAL, the infrastructure arm of Saudi telecoms services provider stc Group, for EUR 1.22bn. The assets include more than 4,800 sites, most of them in Bulgaria. As part of the 20-year master services agreement with United Group, TAWAL will deploy over 2,000 additional sharable sites.
Africa and the Middle East
Canadian insurance firm Fairfax Financial Holdings announced a deal to acquire an additional 46.32% stake in Kuwait-based Gulf Insurance Group from Kuwait Projects Company Holding for USD 860mn. Fairfax first invested in Gulf Insurance in 2010 and this transaction will raise its interest in Kuwait’s largest insurance group to 90.01%. Gulf Insurance Group has operations in 13 different MENA countries and a market-leading presence in each of Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and Egypt.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Italian energy group Enel announced that its Chilean arm Enel Americas inked an agreement for the sale of its Peruvian power distribution and supply assets and advanced energy services to Chinese company China Southern Power Grid International at an enterprise value of about USD 4bn. Enel is offloading 83.3% of Enel Distribucion Peru and 100% of Enel X Peru for a total consideration of around USD 2.9bn in the transaction, which follows its plan to focus on six core countries - Italy, Spain, the United States, Brazil, Chile, and Colombia.
Emerging Asia
Chinese agricultural products company Tongwei Co Ltd announced plans to raise CNY 16bn (USD 2.3bn) in a private placement to secure funds for investment in its green and clean energy projects. The company is offering more than 900 million shares in the transaction, which will be equal to 16.7% of its enlarged capital. Tongwei’s product portfolio includes aquatic and livestock feed.
EMIS alongside leading global law firm CMS, are pleased to launch the Emerging Europe M&A 2022/23 Report, exploring the trends and data within the region, on both a country and sector basis, in 2022. Download your complimentary copy here.