ISSUE 1 | 2022
28
Industrials & Chemical experienced a striking fall in deal activity, with just six deals closed in the final quarter compared to 17 in Q4 2020. Deal volume also dropped by 40% in the Energy, Mining & Utilities sector in the same period. The highest yearly increase was recorded in Real Estate, with 10 deals closed in 2021 compared to only 3 in 2020. The second largest increase in deal volume was in Business Services with a 90% increase from the 20 deals completed in 2020.
The two biggest Austrian deals in Q4 2021 both took place in the Real Estate sector and combined were valued at USD 657m. In the first deal, Czech Republic- based Mountfort Investment Sarl sold a 11.4% stake of Austrian property investment firm Immofinanz AG to the CPI Property Group, also based in the Czech Republic, for a consideration of USD 337m. In the second, the Austrian
Another of the quarter’s biggest deals took place in Germany within the Hornbach empire. For a consideration of USD 403m, Hornbach Holding AG acquired a 23.65% stake in the Hornbach Baumarkt AG. A large deal that crossed borders saw the German optical technology group Jenoptik AG acquire the German subsidiaries BG Medical Applications GmbH (100% stake), SwissOptic AG (100% stake) and SwissOptic (Wuhan) Co., Ltd (100% stake) from Dutch ASML Holding NV. The transaction was valued at USD 349m and will help Jenoptik AG to strengthen its global photonics business. The biggest deal in Switzerland took place in Pharma, Medical & Biotech. Helix Acquisition Corp., the US-based special purpose acquisition company, acquired MoonLake Immunotherapeutics AG for a deal value of USD 230m. MoonLake Immunotherapeutics AG develops therapies for inflammatory skin and joint diseases.
company S IMMO AG acquired a 10% stake in Immofinanz AG for a consideration of USD 320m.
In Q4 2021, the majority of the region’s top 20 deals involved companies in TMT (25%) and Pharma, Medical & Biotech (20%), plus Real Estate (15%), Consumer (10%), Business Services (10%) as well as Industrials & Chemicals (10%) and others (10%). Apart from Real Estate, every other sector recorded falls in deal activity in Q4 2021 compared to Q4 2020. In Real Estate there were four deals closed in Q4 2021 in comparison to none in the same quarter of the previous year.
CHRISTOPH ERNST DIRECTOR – M&A
christoph.ernst@bdo.at
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