Overview of M&A activity in the Baltics in the first half of 2020
2020 – grappling with the pandemic and economic consequences
Activity in the first half of 2020 was largely driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a massive impact on social life and economic activities worldwide. Europe-wide preventative and combative measures against the coronavirus resulted in plummeting M&A volumes. February and March saw the lowest M&A activity in the Baltics since 2013 with only 4 and 6 deals, respectively.
However, for the second half of 2020, we expect a further recovery of M&A activity. Further, as Baltics were one of the rare regions that avoided the necessity of full-scale lock-down, investors in several industries impacted the strongest by disruptions in production and services, see Baltics as “COVID proof” markets, making it interesting for potential acquisitions. Opportunistic buyers are expected to exploit the sectors that were negatively affected by the crisis, where several players may be forced to accept high price discounts. For companies and sectors that were able to benefit from the situation or even grow their business during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we expect valuations to be of equal or even higher levels than at the beginning of 2020.
Number of announced deals in the Baltics per month
Largest deals in the Baltics
