MANAMA: International mergers and acquisitions advisor BCMS announced the launch of its new office in the Kingdom of Bahrain to meet the growing demand for SME owners keen to sell their business to overseas corporate buyers.
The launch event, held at the Capital Club Bahrain, was held under the patronage of the Capital Governor, H.E Shaikh Hisham bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa. The seminar was attended by a number of business owners.
“Large companies may have deep pockets, but they are also tough negotiators. Our business model is based on generating multiple offers for our clients in the Gulf, which typically pushes the price up by around 2.5 times. It has been a success around the world, and I am pleased we are at last able to bring this to Bahrain,” said BCMS Director, Dr. Mike Sweeting.
“Around 250 small firms are snapped up every year in Bahrain – of which around 70% are brought by international acquirers. It is very likely that many owners were under-selling their businesses,” he added.
Away from the mega-mergers and IPO’s, more than 1,000 businesses in the MENA and GCC region were sold last year in the sub-$100million range, worth over $2.7billion in 2014. All experts predict global M&A activity to be even higher this year. The US tendency to lump the Middle East in with Africa for M&A figures has hidden a very positive upturn in the former.
Dozens of regional business owners have already been in touch with BCMS for advice, which BCMS puts down to pent-up demand.
“It can be hard for smaller business owners to know where to go if they have been approached by a potential buyer, as there aren’t many advisors prepared to work at this end of the market but smaller deals are out specialism,” Dr. Sweeting, added.
“It’s clear the international appetite for the Gulf is an ongoing affair. We have a lot of high-growth companies here across diverse sectors, but no long tradition of buying and selling businesses. So we’re looking forward to completing our first cross-border transaction,” he said.
Speaking about the launch of BCMS Gulf, CEO Mohammed Baqer said that he was delighted to see BCMS, one of the world’s leading advisor to privately-owned companies launch its operations in Bahrain with an aim to serve the Gulf region and beyond.
“Finance plays a vital role in economic development. The entry into Bahrain comes in line with our effort to organically expand our presence in the Middle East, which is a key strategic region for BCMS.”