On the Polish market, 348 acquisition processes were closed in 2022, compared to 295 in 2021, which means an increase of 18% y/y, according to the Grant Thornton report “Mergers and acquisitions market in Poland”. This is also the highest number of completed transactions since at least 2010.
Previously, in the years 2017-2020, from 205 to 238 transactions were recorded in our country per year. The “overactivity” in 2021-2022 is partly due to the shift in transaction volume from 2020, but – according to the authors of the report – this is not a key factor. First of all, there is a great interest of foreign investors, who in their strategies assume development through acquisitions and still see great potential in Poland, it was emphasized.
“The times of the coronavirus have accustomed investors to operating in conditions of market perturbations – they want to buy because that is their strategy. Industry investors, especially international players, who included development through acquisitions in their strategy, stopped looking at investment benefits in the perspective of 2, 3 or 5 years, and more and more often declare a horizon of 20/30 years. (…),” said Mateusz Biegajło, manager in the M&A Grant Thornton team, quoted in the release.
Data collected by Grant Thornton indicate that nearly 75% of transactions are carried out by industry investors, i.e. they take place between entities operating on the same market or in a related industry. Next, there are financial investors, who are responsible for approximately 20% of transactions on average. Other interested parties (approx. 5%) include: individual investors or management buyouts.
The statistical acquired company generated on average PLN 89.6 million in revenue and PLN 9.9 million in EBITDA in 2017-2022, but in 2022 alone it was already PLN 151 million in revenue and PLN 18.8 million in EBITDA, compared to 92 million PLN and PLN 9.2 million a year earlier.