May 2023 top M&A deals in emerging markets by region

Emerging Europe

Billionaire Leonard Blavatnik, a naturalized U.S. citizen, has sold his stake of 7.9% in Russian aluminum producer RusAl to an undisclosed buyer, according to a Bloomberg report. Ukraine-born Blavatnik has been attempting to offload last major asset in Russia, now valued at some EUR 570mn, for several years but faced obstacles due to his indirect ownership through Sual Partners, in partnership with sanctioned Russian tycoon Viktor Vekselberg. RusAl is a leading global vertically integrated aluminum company with assets right through the production process - from bauxite and nepheline ore mines to aluminum smelters and foil mills. The largest shareholder of RusAl is En+ Group owned by oligarch Oleg Deripaska, which was also hit by Western sanctions.

Africa and the Middle East

M-KOPA, a leading fintech platform based in Kenya, closed a debt and equity funding round exceeding USD 250mn to expand its financial services offering to underbanked consumers across Sub-Saharan Africa. The USD 55m equity part was spearheaded by existing strategic investor Sumitomo Corp. With a presence in Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, and Ghana, the digital finance platform has already extended over USD 1bn in credit, enabling access to essential services for 3 million customers.

Latin America and the Caribbean

HDI International, a unit of Talanx, Germany's third-largest insurance group, has reached an agreement to acquire the Latin American operations of U.S.-based Liberty Mutual Insurance for a total of USD 1.48bn. This strategic move catapults Talanx to the third position in terms of premium volume in property/casualty insurance in Latin America. In 2022 alone, the operations, encompassing business activities in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador, generated a gross premium volume of around USD 1.8bn.

Emerging Asia

Chinese software and hardware products manufacturer Unisplendour announced plans to raise CNY 12bn (USD 1.7bn) through a private placement to finance the acquisition of a 49% stake in digital solutions provider New H3C Technologies Co Ltd from affiliate Tsinghua Unisplendour Co. Shenzhen-listed Unisplendour Corp, part of Tsinghua Holdings, specializes in the development and sale of hardware and software products, including scanners, servers, and more. In 2022, the company generated revenues of CNY 74.1bn (USD 10 bn).

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.