RIYADH: The opening up of Saudi Arabian markets has been touted as one of the major financial opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), with data showing inter-regional dealmaking in the region at its highest levels since 2013.
In the keynote speech at the inaugural Thomson Reuters Middle East Dealmaking Forum, Matthew Toole, the company’s global head of deals intelligence, said that merger and acquisition (M&A) deals between MENA companies has totalled $16.6 billion so far this year, with $13.9 billion completed during the first three months of the year a 7 percent year-on-year increase and a three-year high.
Saudi Arabia’s National Centre For Privatisation responsible for getting the framework for privatising public services right and for ensuring companies privatise at the right time – is how the Saudi Government was managing the country’s wholesale conversion to the private sector, Moustafa added.
Tannir said international investment had already begun taking advantage of the more open environment in the kingdom, with around $2.5 billion already entering the market, for example, with Bupa’s extension of its ownership in Bupa Saudi Arabia by 5 percent to just below 40 percent in a 400 million Saudi Riyal ($106.67 million) deal last month an example of this.
Moustafa said that the challenge faced by the alternative asset sector in the region – which includes private equity, hedge funds, infrastructure and real estate investment – is access to capital.
