The Polish M&A market may grow by as much as 30% in 2015. Revival on NewConnect possible after the summer holidays

A clear increase in the number of mergers and acquisitions can be expected on the Polish market. Even ignoring the sale of the year, namely the change of the owner of TVN television network, the number of such transactions can increase by 20-30% in the coming months. However, for investors interested in the alternative market, the good time may come after the summer holidays.
“At this moment, we are entering a phase of development of the market, where we have Polish companies that bring genuine added value and, in some areas, are much more developed than even their foreign equivalents,” Marcin Duszyński, President of the Management Board of Capital One Advisers tells the information agency Newseria Investor. “Therefore, the foreign companies very willingly acquire such companies, the technologies, organizations or business idea of which can be copied onto their home markets.”
This means that investors will be targeting certain sectors, those which are best coping with development on the market. The key to the searches is high added value, which some companies carry with them.
“We are certainly taking a very optimistic approach to the medical market,” declares Marcin Duszyński. “This applies to medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and medical services. The market of advertising and marketing is also of interest, because we are very active here. I primarily mean modern media and ways of conducting marketing activities, for instance through social networking sites, although this is no longer so new today.”
Last year, the value of mergers and acquisitions on the Polish market was 4.5 billion euros – according to a report by the CMS law firm, as well as AIG and EMIS. This is over 60% less than in 2013. However, experts currently expect groundbreaking changes in this trend and that does not include TVN, which cost the investors approx. 1.5 billion euros (including debt).
“I believe there will definitely be more transactions this year than last. In volume terms, excluding the one-off large transactions, I think it will be approximately 20-30% more than last year,” forecasts the president of the management board of Capital One Advisers, specifying that an increase in investor activity is already noticeable. “Activity on the market is very intense, even more intense than two years ago and last year. It is difficult to assess whether this is a result of our homework and the fact that we simply know what we are doing, or the overall situation on the market. But when I talk to my colleagues from other companies, they also see some revitalization and appetites.”
Although the TVN acquisition is a typical one-off transaction, which slightly distorts the statistics, it can also be a harbinger of more movement and continuous interest in the Polish market on the part of foreign investors. President Marcin Duszyński from Capital One Advisers associates the forecast increase in activity on the M&A market with the expected recovery on the stock market, which he believes will take place when, after the elections, the political situation clears up. However, on the alternative market, greater investor interest can already appear around the summer holidays.
“We are more interested in companies with a much larger scale of operations than to date or very innovative companies, namely those which not only have a really unique idea for life, supported by technological or organizational solutions, but have already achieved certain financial results. After all, the stock market has recently also imposed a certain discipline in this respect. Interest on the part of companies is noticeable. I think that, just before or after the summer holidays, we will be able to see much stronger revitalization and interest in these debuts.”

Source: NEWSERIA