Against the backdrop of continued business and societal disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, M&A activity in the Middle East still showcased some stability in the first quarter of 2020, increasing in value by over USD 5 billion and in volume by 6 additional deals in comparison to Q4 2019, according to the latest report by global law firm Baker McKenzie*. “It is evident that the current global situation has caused a slow down…
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has announced to triple the rate of VAT to 15%, which will come to effect on 1 July 2020. This is a significant rate increase and one of the fiscal measures taken by the KSA Government to mitigate the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and other macro-economic developments on public finance. The increased rate is expected to apply to all supplies of goods and services that are currently…
2019 has been marked with continued geopolitical uncertainty and market volatility. The projections for and opportunities in 2020 provide a more promising outlook, but there are a number of challenges locally and globally on the horizon, that all companies in the region need to be aware of.
Global deal-making will experience a continued hangover in 2020 thanks to ongoing worldwide economic uncertainty and the risk of global recession, according to the new report by Baker McKenzie. The report also reveals that the deal flows in North America and the Middle East are outliers to the global trend.
Global M&A activity saw fewer but higher value transactions in the first half of 2019 (H1 2019), with total deal values increasing by 19% from the previous half year, while deal volumes fell by 12%. The trend was reflected in the Middle East, with total M&A deal values increasing fourfold from the last half of 2018, despite a slight dip in volumes, according to the latest report by global law firm Baker McKenzie*.