Thai merger market remains busy: study
Thailand’s mergers and acquisitions (MA) activity has remained resilient in the past few years despite political uncertainty and the economy’s ongoing recovery, according to a study by Solidance.
It said between 2015 and 2017, the average transaction increased by 21 per cent from US$39.7 million to $48.2 million while transactions larger than $400 million also increased by the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5 per cent, signifying a surge in M&A deals in Thailand.
In terms of industry breakdown, consumer discretionary and staples represented the largest sector for both deal volume and value, followed by industrial and material sectors between 2015-17 and are still seen as promising and potential sectors to grow in 2018.
As of 1Q18, 37 per cent of M&A transaction value occurred in consumer discretionary sector, followed by energy (34 per cent) and real estate (14 per cent), respectively.
TCC Group Holdings led the wave of acquisitions last year with a total value of $1.3 billion through a variety of acquisitions such as:
● Assets of Thai Hotel Investment Freehold and Leasehold Property Fund for $874.13
million
● 252 existing KFC stores from Yum! Restaurants International Co Ltd for $342.55 million.
Solidiance partner Mickael Feige said: “We expect that the consumer sector will be the key growth sector in the Thai M&A market given the increasing regional consumption spending and the recovery of Thailand’s exports.”
