Amid recent regional geopolitical and international financial turbulence, the MENA region has witnessed a steady growth in merger and acquisitions (M&A) activity with new trends and opportunities. Joined by local and regional experts and speakers, Shadi Zubeidi, Managing Director and Head of Corporate Finance at Qatar First Investment Bank (QFIB), will address the impact of these activities from a corporate finance perspective on the Arab region at the upcoming M&A, Corporate Finance & Advisory MENA conference.
QFIB is the gold sponsor at this year’s M&A, Corporate Finance and Advisory MENA conference, taking place on 29th & 30th November at the Al Sharq Village Hotel, Doha.
According to a Zawya Business Monitor report, the first six months of 2011 witnessed a total of 173 M&A deals, an increase of 33 percent over the 130 deals closed in the same period of 2010. In terms of total deal value, M&A activity increased 30 percent, reaching $21.17 billion in the first half of 2011.
Participating as a panellist in a session entitled ‘Heads of M&A Advisory and Investment Banking panel discussion: A view into 2012’, Shadi along with heads of M&A, advisory and investment banks, both from international and local banks, will review M&A activity during 2011, evaluate prospects for 2012 and address key trends including current valuation, market volatility, exit options and common themes that enable transaction closure. In addition, the panel will also explore factors affecting access to acquisition and bank financing including the lack of liquidity in the banking sector, increased lending requirements, rising financing cost and appetite for financing risk.
“There still is an appetite for M&A transactions in the MENA markets, however, in light of the current challenging global economic drop and political uncertainty in the region, M&A transactions are becoming more challenging to conclude. Having said that, our market research and feedback from investors and family businesses indicates that the region will witness new opportunities over the coming years following the uprisings in the region. Ideally speaking, the Arab world should eventually reap the benefits of political and economic reforms, capital injections, improved legal systems and friendlier environments for foreign investors” commented Zubeidi.
Zubeidi, who joined QFIB in early 2011 will also moderate a panel discussion entitled ‘Buyers vs Sellers – evaluating how to come to a middle ground’ to discuss the appetite for M&A activity at present. “Through our active participation and sponsorship of this conference, QFIB aims to highlight the key strategic issues affecting M&A transactions including valuation drivers, expectations of sellers versus buyers and the due diligence factors involved in standard M&A processes,” concluded Zubeidi.
Throughout his career in the region, Mr. Zubeidi advised and successfully concluded over 20 debt, equity and M&A transactions with a combined value exceeding US$12 billion.