EY: Hungaryʼs M&A market grows 46%

“Apart from the increase in transactions, the estimated size of the Hungarian M&A market also grew, but it is apparent that the majority of transactions in the market have a lower price tag,” Margaret Dezse (pictured), partner and head of transaction advisory services at EY Hungary, said.

According to data by EY, IT and tech companies are still the most attractive firms for investors, while investments abroad by Hungarian companies were led by Hungarian oil and gas company MOL and OTP Bank.

The first six months of this year have been the most successful in M&A terms in Hungary since 2011, given that until June 7, 46% more M&A transactions had taken place as compared to a year ago. Hungaryʼs 70 transactions helped rank it fifth on the list of CEE countries, with Turkey, Poland and Czech Republic being the first three.

Taking into consideration the price of these M&A transactions, however, there has been a 5% drop to $0.8 bln  as compared to the same period a year earlier and as compared to the second half of last year when 24% growth was measured.

Domestic transactions continued to dominate the Hungarian market; precisely 60% of all transactions involved Hungarian buyers and sellers. Among foreign investors, the most active were companies from Great Britain with five transactions, four from the United States and three from both Austria and Switzerland.