Strong M&A activity persists

Household appliances maker Gorenje sold itself to Hisense, a Chinese firm best known for its TV sets, for just under EUR 300m, after state-owned shareholders set aside concerns on promises by the acquirer that Slovenian jobs were not in jeopardy.

Another major deal was the acquisition of poultry producer Perutnina Ptuj by Ukrainian poultry giant MHP. The price remains a secret until the competition watchdog has cleared the deal, but since the two companies have hardly any geographical overlap the clearance is seen as a mere formality.

In the biggest financial sector deals, Italian insurer Generali acquired Adriatic Slovenica, the country's no. 3 insurer, for EUR 245m in May, and Serbian bank AIK was cleared to acquire a majority stake in Gorenjska Banka, a small private bank, in a deal valuing the bank at EUR 115m. The transaction has not been completed yet.

But not all deals panned out as planned. The Austrian Martens Management Group aborted its bid to acquire chemical company Cinkarna Celje after its offer was designated as insultingly low, and a EUR 300m takeover of TAB, a maker of vehicle and stationary batteries, by the South African battery maker Metair Investments was suspended due to exchange rate volatility in South Africa and Turkey.

A proposed EUR 230m acquisition of broadcaster Pro Plus by US-owned cable operator United Group appeared at the end of the year to be doomed after the competition watchdog indicated it was likely to run afoul of competition rules.