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Merger and acquisition slows, report finds
Mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity in Vietnam is slowing, according to a report recently released by British firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
In the first half of this year 48 M&A deals, valued at a total of US$347 million, were reported to authorities, significantly lower than the 47 deals valued at $736 million in the same period last year, the report said.
Some reasons for the downward trend included companies delaying closing deals because of economic uncertainty or renegotiating prices because the valuations of both domestic and foreign companies had fallen this year.
PwC, however, said the actual number of M&A deals may be higher, as privately negotiated transactions may not have been recorded yet.
But it expected more M&A activity in the latter half of this year.
In the second half of last year, a total of $1.1 billion worth of deals were registered.
Foreign investors and analysts said at a seminar in HCMC last month that M&A opportunities in Vietnam looked promising but the government’s regulations were “confusing.”
While Vietnam committed to the World Trade Organization to allow foreign investors to own a 99 percent stake in a listed company, it still limited foreign ownership to 49 percent of a joint stock enterprise and 30 percent of a listed bank, they said.
In its report, PwC said it believed the government intended to remove obsolete regulations.
Thanhnien
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