Mergers and acquisitions in Latin America and the Caribbean declined last year, according to the most recent report produced by Transactional Track Record. The statistics reflect that these movements added US$74.12 billion in 2023, a drop of 24.37% compared to the same period of the previous year.
If you look at the amount of business done, A drop of 12.43% is also seen with the 3,235 transactions that were recorded throughout 2023.
Among the largest moves, which include both announced and completed operations, The sale that Enel Perú made of its shares in Enel Generación Perú to Niagara Energy stands out in an operation worth US$1.4 billion.
The ranking also involves Colombia, since the announcement of the purchase of Grupo Éxito by Grupo Calleja of El Salvador was recorded. The transaction is still being carried out, but the report values it at US$1,175 millionwhich would cause the retail to change from its current owners: the Casino Group.
“During the last months of the year, we have seen a relative recovery in the pace of negotiations. Naturally, many of the uncertainties remain and many others have appeared and will appear”said Felipe Junqueira, director of M&A and Transaction Solutions Latam at Aon.
In the report, it was highlighted that “Brazil leads the region in both transaction volume and mobilized capital, followed by Chile and, in third place, Mexico. By number of transactions, Colombia takes fourth place, followed by Argentina and Peru.”
If the mobilized capital is analyzed, Peru is fourth, followed by Colombia and Argentina. “We had a significant reduction in the added value and quantity of transactions in general in Latin America, in line with what we observed globally,” Junqueira added.
In Colombia, a decline of more than 30% was recorded
According to TTR accounts, Transactions in Colombia reached US$5,097 million, which represented a drop of 32.3% during last year. Just looking at the number of transactions, there is also a decline, but this time smaller. The 264 deals that occurred last year represented a drop of 5.04%.
Despite the downward trend, only when analyzing the figures from the report on the last quarter of the year was there an increase compared to the same period of the previous year, since it went from US$1,411.98 million to US$1,790 million.
