In the second half of 2016 two of the TOP 10 Baltic banks – Nordea and DNB – announced that they will merge their strength in each of the Baltic countries aiming to become a leader in this region. Such a consolidation is logical and justified – while the average number of banks per 100 thousand citizens in the EU is approximately 0.2, in Estonia and Latvia this indicator is six times higher, states Prudentia M&A Folio report.
Overall market valuations of European banks indicate that this sector is in a downward trend – the share values of public European banks have decreased by 25% on a year-on-year basis. In these circumstances merger synergies and increase of market power are quite realistic scenarios for the development of the banking sector. This is also outlined in the accumulated number of banking M&A’s in Europe – there were 69 announced deals in the first half of 2016 compared to 58 deals in the same period last year.
The Prudentia M&A Folio shows that the activity in the Baltic M&A market overall has slowed down – there was a 20% decrease in the number of announced deals during May – August period compared to first four months of this year.
It is possible to read the full “Prudentia M&A Folio” here: Prudentia M&A Folio (282.38 KB)