Law and Practice
1. Trends
1.1 M&A Market
The M&A market in South Africa (SA) was already expected to
dip in 2020 due to the country's stagnant economy and
political uncertainty. As elsewhere in the world, the adverse
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic added to this anticipated
slow-down, negatively affecting the pace of deal activity in the
country.
1.2 Key Trends
There were 381 successful listed M&A deals in South Africa
in 2020 (down from 458 in 2019 and 501 in 2018) with a total deal
value of ZAR321 billion (down from ZAR413 billion in 2019 and
ZAR572 billion in 2018). Interestingly, private equity deals
increased to 128 deals (ZAR29 billion) in 2020 (compared to 99
(ZAR13 billion) in 2019 and 74 (ZAR25 billion) in 2018).
