Over the past two decades, South Africa’s merger and acquisition (M&A) activity has all but halved, influenced by various factors, including regulatory changes, concerns over political stability, and local and global economic conditions, all of which have dampened investor confidence and slowed dealmaking momentum. This, is, of course, bar the blip in 2021, following the release of the bottleneck caused by the 2020 pandemic.
In 2023, total deal activity by SA-listed companies declined to 315 deals, valued at c.R576bn and that compares with 383 deals valued at R735bn in 2022. Of this 2023 total value, 64% of the deals were announced by foreign companies with secondary listings on the JSE.
Delving deeper into the numbers, the value of the 284 deals announced by SA domiciled companies in 2023 declined 44% against that of 2022 and this, despite the effect on the numbers of a weaker exchange rate. On a positive note, the number of failed deals dropped to six, against a norm of roughly 24.
Of the top 10 largest 2023 deals (by value) by a primary listed SA company, Life Healthcare’s disposal of Alliance Medical Group to entities advised by iCON Infrastructure tops the list at R19,7bn. The largest B-BBEE deal by value was Absa’s eKhaya transaction at R11,2bn. Both deals won their respective categories at the ANSARADA DealMakers Awards.
The standout theme of the general corporate finance tables, the rubric representing corporate restructurings, listings, share issues, unbundlings among others, was the return of value to shareholders by way of share buy-back programmes, special cash distributions and the secondary listing of companies on A2X providing investors with the cost-effective trading of listed shares.
The winners of the platinum medal subjective awards are as follows:
Ince Individual DealMaker of the Year – Ferdi Vorster
Brunswick Deal of the Year – Life Healthcare’s disposal of Alliance Medical Group
Exxaro BEE Deal of the Year – ABSA’s eKhaya transaction
Catalyst Private Equity Deal of the Year – Carlyle’s exit of Tessara
Business Rescue Transaction of the Year – Cast Products South Africa
Special Recognition Award – African Parks
2023 M&A award winners (listed companies)
Winners of other awards presented on the night were:
In the category of General Corporate Finance:
Investment Adviser (by deal value): Rand Merchant Bank
Investment Adviser (by deal flow) tie: PSG Capital and Investec Bank
Sponsor (by deal value): Investec Bank
Sponsor (by deal flow): PSG Capital
Legal Adviser (by deal value): Webber Wentzel
Legal Adviser (by deal flow): Webber Wentzel
Transactional Support Services (by deal value): EY
Transactional Support Services (by deal flow): PwC
Top BEE advisers were:
Legal Adviser (by deal value): ENS
Legal Adviser (by deal flow): ENS
Top advisers (unlisted deals) were:
Legal Adviser (by deal value): Webber Wentzel
Legal Adviser (by deal flow): Webber Wentzel
2023 M&A League Tables: SA advisory firms (in relation to exchange-listed companies)
2023 General Corporate Finance League Tables: SA advisory firms (in relation to exchange-listed companies)
DealMakers is SA’s M&A publication
www.dealmakerssouthafrica.com
