Quality over quantity

Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in Middle Eastern markets has opened windows for economic and financial activity this year, while doors have been shutting on listed equity and new public offerings. Reaching $30.5 billion, the cumulative value of mergers and acquisitions and private investment deals completed from January through to the end of July 2010 in the Middle East and North Africa was up 14 percent from the transactions in the same period of 2009, according to the Dealflow Monitor by the Regional Press Network.  The number of completed transactions in the first seven months of 2010 showed an 8 percent drop from a year ago to 270, indicating that values per transaction have been tending higher. The takeover expected to set the record for highest value this year was completed in June, through the sale of African assets of Kuwaiti telecommunications firm Zain Group to India’s Bharti Airtel for