Abreu Advogados, in partnership with the Transactional Track Record (TTR), presents the report “Portugal M&A: Moving Forward After Covid-19”, which analyzes the evolution of the M&A market in Portugal during the first 12 months of the pandemic, through the reading of its main indicators among which we highlight the number and value of transactions in the most active sectors of the Portuguese economy, such as Energy, Technology and Telecommunications, Real Estate and Financial and Insurance.

The data revealed in this report focuses mainly on the period between April 2020 and March 2021 and reveals a contrary evolution between the number of transactions and their value. Over this period, and when compared to 2019, there was a 15% increase in the value of transactions that were made, while the number of transactions fell by 21%.

These results reflect the resilience and adaptability of sectors such as Technology and Telecommunications, which saw a 40% increase in the transactions’ value during the first year of the pandemic, and Pharmaceutical, where there was a 662% increase in the same indicator and over the same period.

At the end of the third quarter of 2021, there is a reverse trend from that seen during the first year of the pandemic. This is shown by the data released by the TTR in the third quarter of 2021, which confirm an increase in the number of transactions (24.02%) and a decrease in the value of transactions executed (39.2%).

The report “Portugal M&A: Moving Forward After Covid-19” also identifies the main trends of the M&A market in Portugal for 2022.

Looking ahead to 2022, this report also identifies some factors that will foster economic growth and, consequently, an increase in the number of transactions, such as: underway transactions that will be completed in 2022, the devaluation of assets that will generate business opportunities and the injection, in certain sectors, of capital via the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).

“We are delighted that TTR has been invited to contribute to this important report. The lessons and insights found in this report will undoubtedly help us all to seize the opportunities that lie ahead, and to create new opportunities along the way.” Says Oliver Hill, Editor of the Transactional Track Record (TTR).

For Manuel Santos Vítor, Partner at Abreu Advogados, “to read the annual data on the M&A sector in Portugal is, in itself, extremely important for a very dynamic sector that has been standing out in the Portuguese panorama. This data allows us to draw conclusions and identify or anticipate trends. The Pandemic led to a forced shutdown or almost shutdown of some of the main sectors of our economy, with a very significant impact on our business sector. Our M&A team has closely followed the market developments and international trends, and our clients rely on us to share current information such as this report, which brings us new data to better identify and anticipate trends but also helps us to confirm the growth and affirmation of some sectors, despite the adverse climate.”

The origin of foreign investment in the M&A market in Portugal showed distinct evolutions. Spain and the United States continue to be the most active countries in the number of operations in Portugal but registered, between March 2020 and April 2021, a decrease of 27% and 54%, respectively. The podium is completed by the United Kingdom, which saw its number of transactions in Portugal increase by 10% during the first year of the pandemic compared to 2019. France was the country that increased the most its M&A market share in Portugal during the pandemic, with a 63% increase in the number of transactions.

The “Portugal M&A: Moving Forward After Covid-19” was presented online, in a session attended by the Minister of State for the Economy and the Digital Transition, Pedro Siza Vieira; Rita Araújo, Executive Board Member at AICEP; Isabel Duarte Lima, Managing Partner at HCapital and Marco Lourenço, Managing Director and Head of M&A and ECM at Caixa Banco de Investimento. From Abreu Advogados, whose M&A team has more than 30 lawyers, participated the partners Ana Sofia Batista, José Maria Corrêa de Sampaio, Manuel Santos Vítor, Marta Romano de Castro and Hugo Teixeira.

https://portugal-ma-report.abreuadvogados.com/