Poland likely to see more M&A transactions in 2025 than last year - PwC consultancy (interview)
The number of M&A transactions in Poland this year may be higher than last year. Companies from the medical, RES or technology sectors are likely to be of interest to buyers, just like in 2024, partner at PwC Polska Marcin Byrt assessed in an interview with PAP Biznes.
"In my opinion, we will see more M&A transactions this year than last year. The year has started intensely. We have a lot of ongoing projects and I hope that a significant part of them will close," Byrt told PAP Biznes.
"We will want to return to some projects after processes were put on hold last year, not least because of the weaker industry. Most of our clients closed 2024 with better or significantly better results than the year before. This is a positive sign," he added.
As Byrt assessed, the worst moments in the M&A cycle are related to uncertainty, not a downturn or dynamic growth.
"It is the uncertainty, the unpredictability, the volatility such as during a pandemic or just after the outbreak of war that discourages deals," he pointed out.
According to him, although there are ongoing political changes in Western countries, including Germany, or the United States, which are generating a lot of political discussion, for the time being it is not having a significant impact on the economy.
"I would rather fear some kind of economic downturn in Germany, which could affect selected industries in Poland," the partner at PwC Polska consultancy said.
In his opinion, the transaction market has been changing dynamically since the pandemic.
In 2024, PwC as a transaction advisor successfully closed 19 M&A transactions in the Polish market against a total of more than 350 completed transactions.
"We thus successfully completed the most transactions in the market and it was also a record year for our team. However, the number of transactions in Poland was slightly lower year on yea; it is estimated that the decrease was around 5-10 percent," Byrt said.
He pointed out that you still see a lot of valuations based on ‘double-digit multiples’ of EV/EBITDA.
"This means that investors are paying relatively more and expecting faster growth with comparable or lower risk. Let's hope this is a good prognosis for 2025," Marcin Byrt concluded.
pel/ ao
