Issue 11 2019

40 Acquisition International - Issue 11 2019 Q3 was a fairly quiet period in terms of the volume and value of deals targeting companies in the chemicals sector, according to Zephyr, the M&A database published by Bureau van Dijk. Companies in the sector were targeted in 479 deals worth a combined USD 22,750 million during the three months. This represents a quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year decline in value when compared to Q2’s USD 35,756 million and the USD 37,712 million invested in Q3 2018. espite the disappointing value result, volume actually increased year-on-year, from 472 deals in Q3 2018, while value was higher than the same period two years ago (Q3 2017; USD 21,258 million). Nevertheless, Q3 2019’s value has been suppressed somewhat by the lack of a very large deal. While Q1 was boosted considerably by the USD 69,100 million acquisition of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation by Saudi Arabian Oil Company, no deals on that scale took place during Q3. The most valuable was announced in August and was worth USD 2,664 million as Norges Bank took a 3 per cent stake in Netherlands-based food and personal care products maker Unilever. This was followed by a USD 2,076 million acquisition of Huntsman’s chemical intermediates businesses and its surfactants units by Indorama Ventures, while Morphe Holdings secured a USD 2,000 million injection from General Atlantic, which picked up an undisclosed majority shareholding as a consequence. In terms of value, Western Europe topped the target world region rankings in Q3 2019, with USD 10,304 million, and is also leading the way in Q4 2019 to date (USD 985 million). It was followed by North America and the Far East and Central Asia, with USD 6,945 million and USD 5,113 million, respectively. No other region attracted value of more than USD 1,000 million, with fourth-placed Africa notching up USD 121 million. In terms of volume, the Far East and Central Asia led the way in Q3, with 248 deals, followed by Western Europe, with 130. The two regions are also heading the rankings for Q4 to date, having been targeted in 43 and 19 deals, respectively. In conclusion, Q3 was pretty quiet as regards M&A activity levels in the chemicals sector, but the fact that 72 deals worth a combined USD 2,576 million have already been announced since the beginning of Q4 may give some hope that the situation may have improved by the time we come to the new year. There are still sizeable deals being signed off, which is undoubtedly encouraging for those watching the market and who are hoping to see an upturn in activity levels on the horizon. Company: Bureau van Dijk E-Mail: bvd@bvdinfo.com Web: www.bvdinfo.com Chemicals D “There are still sizeable deals being signed off, which is undoubtedly encouraging for those watching the market and who are hoping to see an upturn in activity levels on the horizon.”