Euro area annual inflation fell to 2.4 per cent in November from 2.9 per cent in October. It’s almost hard to remember now, but a year previously, annual inflation was at 10.1 per cent. However, higher interest rates have weighed on the eurozone economy. Eurozone GDP fell by 0.1 percent quarter-on-quarter in Q3. Europe’s purchasing managers’ index fell to 47.0 in December which may suggest a contraction of the economy in Q4. We are still in interesting times.
For M&A, deal activity in December involved 73 deals in total; that’s a decrease of 32 deals year on year. A couple of the notable ones are:
- Public Investment Fund-PIF acquired a 49% stake in Rocco Forte Hotels Ltd
- Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA was acquired by Auchan Retail SA and Les Mousquetaires SAS
- Courvoisier SAS was acquired by Davide Campari-Milano NV
The most active sector (in number of deals) in December was accommodation, as shown by:
- a 39 per cent stake in Legacy Hotels & Resorts (Pty) Ltd. being acquired by Talaat Moustafa Group Holding Co SAE and Arab Company for Tourism & Hotels Investments,
- NH Hotel Group SA acquiring Minor Hotels Portugal SA, and
- Selina Hospitality being acquired by Osprey Investments Ltd
Read more in the January edition of our newsletter.
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