Issue 9 2020

24 Acquisition International - Issue 9 2020 Both the volume and value of deals targeting companies in the energy, environmental and cleantech sector declined in August 2020, according to Zephyr, the M&A database published by Bureau van Dijk. In all, there were 165 such transactions with an aggregate value of USD 15,472 million signed off over the month. It is worth noting that the USD 100,173 million-worth of deals announced in July represented the highest monthly value since May 2019 and was due to three transactions breaking the USD 10,000 million-barrier in the month under review. lthough August’s result represents a decline, the value result was still higher than the USD 6,638 million-worth of deals announced in May 2020. The drop is partly due to the month’s low volume and a lack of high value dealmaking. The sector’s largest deal of the month was worth USD 6,500 million and saw creditors pick up a 67 per cent shareholding in UK-headquartered Valaris. This deal alone accounted for 42 per cent of total value for the month under review and was followed by a USD 2,376 million private placing by German electricity provider RWE. These two deals are the sector’s 8th- and 24th-largest deals of 2020 to date. July’s impressive result is unsurprising given that the year’s three largest deals targeting the energy, environmental and cleantech industry were all signed off during the month. The most valuable of these was worth USD 30,072 million and as such, is the year’s second-largest deal overall, across all industries. It involved China Oil & Gas Pipeline Network acquiring majority stakes in multiple Chinese businesses from PetroChina. In a quarterly comparison, there have been 432 deals worth an aggregate USD 115,646 million targeting the industry announced during Q3 to date. Despite there still being a month to go until the end of the quarter, this is higher than Q2’s value (USD 63,294 million), while it is also up on the USD 61,995 million-worth of transactions signed off in Q1. This is largely due to the aforementioned sizeable deals announced in July; July’s USD 100,173 million accounts for 87 per cent of Q3’s total value to date. In terms of the regions which have been targeted in Q3 to date, the Far East and Central Asia is leading the way by both volume and value, having been targeted in 173 deals worth a combined USD 54,183 million. A significant portion of this value is due to the PetroChina transaction, valued at USD 30,072 million. It was followed by North America, with USD 40,643 million, while Western Europe came next with USD 16,927 million. In terms of volume, Western Europe placed second, with 105 deals, while North America was third with 83. In conclusion, August has been a quiet month in terms of the volume and value of deals targeting energy, environmental and cleantech companies. However, the fact that a number of sizeable deals were signed off in the industry just last month shows there is still plenty of appetite for companies in the sector and plenty of reason to expect activity levels to increase again in the coming months. Company: Bureau van Dijk E-Mail: bvd@bvdinfo.com Web: www.bvdinfo.com Energy, Environmental and Cleantech A