Mexican M&A activity produced 85 transactions in the second quarter of the year, with the value of 36 publicly disclosed deals reaching US$6.68bn, a 78.0% increase in reported capital but there was a 1.2% drop in the total number of transactions, according to M&A research firm Transactional Track Record (TTR).

Q2 activity showed a modest resurgence from the weak levels seen in the first quarter, particularly in June. Combined, there were 148 M&A deals in Mexico over the first half of 2017, with 57 of them reporting a combined value of US$10.7bn, up slight 0.7% in the number of operations from the same period of 2016 and a 12.6% decline in reported values.

Economic uncertainty, largely stemming from the new US administration and potential protectionist policies, has e weighed heavily on investor sentiment in Mexico this year. However, concerns over major changes to US-Mexico trade policy and unexpected economic resilience in the first quarter have begun to improve prospects for the economy moving forward.

Looking at Mexico's M&A prospects ahead, "in the second six months of 2017, we could expect 3% to 6% growth in the number of transactions, depending on monetary policy and the economic conditions which could reflect an improving trend in the amount of these," Adriano Silva, director of Mercer México, was cited as saying by TTR.

Of the for which values were reported from January to June, 35 were valued at less than US$100mn, 15 ranged in value between US$100mn and US$500mn, while seven came in above US$500mn.

Source: Business News Americas / BN Americas - Chile