Siemens Gamesa shareholders last week gave the green light for the company to stop trading after 22 years on the stock exchange. A process that practically completes the takeover bid Siemens energy, after acquiring 92.72% of its subsidiary. Siemens Gamesa’s is one of four takeover bids registered in Spain last year, a year marked by high volatility and uncertainty over economic growth and geopolitical tensions. Added to this was the one carried out by its parent company on Mediaset España, that launched by FCC on Metrovacesa and that launched on 100% by Zardoya Otis, which led to its delisting.
The instability that plagued the market throughout 2022 halted much of the attempt to go public, accept a takeover bid or make corporate moves both in Spain and globally. Although market sources acknowledge that in the Spanish case, the large operations were hit hardest, which also meant they went to the capital markets for funding, while smaller operations – mid-market in the jargon – found it easier to get ahead and are kept on the back burner.
With a view to this year, in which the liquidity of venture capital funds is at its highest, the experts still have little visibility, but have raised their expectations slightly. “Investors and companies are more encouraged to execute transactions as the year begins than was expected just a few months ago, although some will prefer to wait until the second half of the year for more clarity on the end of the price rises,” says J.osé Antonio Zarzalejos, Partner responsible for Corporate Finance at KPMG in Spain.
Carlos Jiménez de Laiglesia, Senior Associate for M&A and Capital Markets at Baker McKenziebelieves that, despite the open unknowns, “there is still investor interest in our country, which, accompanied by accumulated liquidity, is waiting for the right moment to proceed with its investment plan, which is why we are confident that we will be able to do so will see a rebound in Operations Corporate over the course of the year.
It is true, the sources consulted admit, that the recent rebound in the stock market has meant that listed companies have recovered part of their losses and that they are no longer as cheap as they were a few months ago. “I also don’t see that investors and companies are preparing for corporate governance excesses,” says Zarzalejos.
From Baker McKenzie, they recall that “Some of the restrictions on the formulation of a takeover bid by foreign investors in certain strategic sectors will remain in place following the extension of the anti-takeover shield until the end of 2024. Added to this, as other sources point out, is the increase in liabilities and reduced financial profitability (ROE).
Among the candidate sectors that could start business this year, Zarzalejos cites “food, consumer goods and industrial products, with businesses heavily dependent on energy costs and imports” as those where the commitment to economies of scale can harbor consolidation activities.
swimming pool
Additionally, the punishment of certain companies on the stock market in recent months has had takeover drums beating and the market is setting a price for stocks like Cellnex, which are within reach of competitors and funds after being put back into the pool of stocks since their IPO in 2015 operational values of the analysts. Jiménez de Laiglesia, on the other hand, does not rule out movements in the energy sector and that his companies “will be the protagonists of some of the most important corporate operations this year, as they have been in recent months”.
Analysts refer to Applus+ as one of the values that funds and investors should aim for. Javier Ruiz, analyst at Renta 4, even sets a price range of between 8 and 10 euros per share before a possible offer on the value. “We believe that the merger would make more sense for a private equity company than for an industrial company,” adds the expert.
According to comments, Metrovacesa is once again in the box of possible offers, despite the offer launched by Carlos Slim last year Ivan San Félix, from Renta 4, adding that within the Sozimi sector there are the conditions for the continuation of this type of operations – last week the businessman Amancio Ortega did not rule out entering a Sozimi if the appropriate circumstances exist. Additionally, other market sources indicate that some securities are listed on the stock exchange BME growth they could capture the attraction of investors and play the leading role in business processes.