{"id":95067,"date":"2025-03-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/03\/09\/saudi-uae-swfs-led-regional-ma-activity-in-2024\/"},"modified":"2025-03-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-09T00:00:00","slug":"saudi-uae-swfs-led-regional-ma-activity-in-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2025\/03\/09\/saudi-uae-swfs-led-regional-ma-activity-in-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi + UAE SWFs led regional M&A activity in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong>The <\/strong>MENA region saw 701 M&A transactions last year totaling USD 92.3 bn, with the bulk <\/strong>of activity being in the GCC, where 580 transactions accounted for USD 90 bn<\/strong>, according to EY\u2019s latest MENA M&A insights report<\/a>. This marks a 3% increase in transaction count and a 7% rise in value y-o-y, likely fueled by capital market reforms, policy shifts, and growing interest from foreign investors, the report reads.<\/p>\n

Saudi and Emirati sovereign wealth funds remained the key drivers of dealflow in the region<\/strong>, with Abu Dhabi\u2019s Mubadala Investment (along with two US-based PE firms) clinching the heftiest cash-based M&A last year, as it acquired an 80% stake in US-based fifth largest ins. player Truist Ins. USD 15.5 bn<\/a> in February 2024. PIF-backed Aramco followed, snapping up an additional 22.5% stake in Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical (Petro Rabigh) for USD 8.9 bn<\/a>. Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) and Mubadala (along with a Hong Kong-based PE firm) acquired a 60% stake in China\u2019s Zhuhai Wanda Commercial Management Group for USD 8.3 bn<\/a> in April. <\/p>\n

Cross-border transactions topped the M&A league table<\/strong>, making up 52% of the total volume, and 74% of the total value of transactions. <\/p>\n

Domestic M&A accounted for 48% of total activity in the region last year<\/strong> with 339 transactions worth USD 24.4 bn, up slightly from 333 in 2023<\/a>. Technology and consumer products led the charge, accounting for a combined 35% of the total domestic count. Meanwhile, oil and gas remained the heavyweight in terms of value, contributing USD 9 bn \u2014 largely driven by Aramco\u2019s acquisition of Petro Rabigh.<\/p>\n

Outbound investments <\/strong>accounted for the lion\u2019s share of total consolidated transaction value (61%) with 199 transactions worth USD 56.6 bn. <\/p>\n

Inbound investments totaled USD 11.4 bn across 143 transactions<\/strong>, with the value rising 42% y-o-y and volume up 18% y-o-y. <\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia and the UAE captured the bulk of inbound and total M&A<\/strong>, with the two countries being home to 318 M&A transactions worth a total of USD 29.6 bn last year.<\/p>\n

The US was the biggest bidder from outside the MENA region last year<\/strong>, logging 48 transactions worth USD 4.6 bn. The capital flowed both ways as MENA investors also made the US their prime destination in 2024, striking 41 M&A transactions valued at USD 19.9 bn in the American market.<\/p>\n

The technology sector led inbound investments in the region last year<\/strong>, accounting for 23% of total inbound and domestic transaction volume.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cross-border transactions accounted for 74% of total M&A value in the region<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":95068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2575],"tags":[4071,139,10,14,1250,2484],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-95067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ma-watch","tag-abu-dhabi-investment-authority-adia","tag-aramco","tag-enterpriseam-ksa","tag-ma-watch","tag-mubadala","tag-the-public-investment-fund-pif","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"1714da27-7660-48bc-948c-faafdc441d52","order":"4","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2025\/3\/602.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"Saudi + UAE SWFs led regional M&A activity in 2024","related_issue":[95060],"teaser":"Cross-border transactions accounted for 74% of total M&A value in the region","voice_url":"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/ent.news\/audio\/2025\/3\/.bc973fd4-2724-45ad-965d-e1c60d7848b7.mp3"},"yoast_head":"\nSaudi + UAE SWFs led regional M&A activity in 2024 - 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