Gulf investors have announced or completed over USD 24 bn in transactions in Europe so far this year, a sharp increase from the USD 4.9 bn recorded during the same period last year, Reuters reports. Among them is Adnoc’s ongoing pursuit to acquire German chemical firm Covestro, which, if successful, will mark the largest acquisition of a European firm by a Middle Eastern buyer in 16 years.

What’s driving the surge? European companies have relatively low company valuations compared to the US, which, coupled with a favorable regulatory environment, is making “Middle East strategic investors much more confident investing in Europe,” David Martin, corporate partner at Linklaters told Reuters. The investments are also welcomed, being met with “a need in Europe, especially on some of the very large infrastructure projects, for deep pocketed investors.”

There are caveats: Increased protectionism and concerns over foreign security have meant more scrutiny into Gulf investments (which ultimately led to the scrapping of Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI’s acquisition of the Telegraph).

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