LatAm deal volume falls 14% in January to 116 deal

· Aggregate deal value fell 12% to USD 5.7bn

· Deal of the Month: Mosaic acquires 40% of Compañia Minera Miski Mayo for USD 1.4bn

 

The 116 announced and closed deals across Latin America in February together represent a 14% decline in transaction volume and a 12.3% drop in aggregate transaction value over February 2017, according to TTR data.

M&A volume is down 13.8% regionally YTD over the first two months of 2017, meanwhile, with 263 deals registered since the beginning of the year worth USD 11.7bn in aggregate, considering 103 transactions of disclosed consideration across Latin America.

 

Top Six M&A Markets in Latin America

Brazil accounted for 119 of the 263 deals recorded across the region in the first two months of the year, a 20% decline relative to the transaction volume in the region’s largest market between January and February 2017. Aggregate deal value fell 69% to USD 3.9bn, meanwhile, taking into account 39 deals of disclosed consideration.

Mexico’s 53 deals YTD represent a 39% jump in volume over the same two months last year, while aggregate deal value increased 35% to USD 1.35bn, taking into account 21 deals of disclosed consideration.

Argentina ranks third in Latin America by transaction volume at the close of February with 42 announced and closed deals YTD, a 75% increase in volume over the same two months last year. The 18 transactions of disclosed consideration registered in Argentina YTD are together worth just over USD 1bn, a 155% jump in aggregate value over the January-to-February period in 2017.

Colombia ranks fourth by volume at the close of February with 25 transactions, deal flow increasing 19% over the first two months of 2017. The seven transactions of disclosed consideration registered in Colombia YTD are together worth USD 258m, representing a 77% jump in aggregate value over the same two-month period of 2017.

Peru ranks fourth regionally at the close of February, tied with Chile by volume, but surpassing its southern neighbor by aggregate value. The 20 deals registered in Peru YTD represent a 23% decline in volume. Aggregate value surged 1,399% meanwhile, to USD 3.4bn, buoyed by Mosaic’s early February acquisition of Compañia Minera Miski Mayo, among 12 transactions of disclosed consideration.

Chile fell to the bottom of the top six regional ranking by the end of February, its 20 deals representing a 55% drop in volume, notwithstanding a 40% increase in aggregate value to USD 209m relative to the first two months of 2017, considering nine transactions of disclosed consideration.

Cross-Border Deals

Bidders based in Latin America made seven extra-regional acquisitions in February, five targeting companies in North America and two with targets in the EU.

North American buyers led the bidding for Latin American targets with 16 inbound deals regionally in February, followed by bidders from the EU with 13, from Asia with two and one acquisition by an Australian firm.

Deal of the Quarter

TTR selected The Mosaic Company’s USD 1.4bn acquisition of a 40% stake in Compañia Minera Miski Mayo as Deal of the Month in February. The Peru-based target mines potassium, phosphate, kaolin and potash in the region of Piura. Estudio Muñiz represented the target in the deal, which represents 41% of Peru’s aggregate transaction value YTD.