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2022 was the most active corporate transaction period of the past 12 years in Hungary in terms of number and value of transactions, with deals concluded worth USD 5.88 billion in the Hungarian M&A (Mergers and Acquistions) market, international accounting and advisory firm EY reported.
In its latest survey, EY said that 137 transactions were announced in Hungary last year, the number of deals rose by 5 percent, and their combined value by 27 percent compared to 2021, when 132 transactions worth $4.64 billion were announced.
According to the analysis, the Hungarian market was still dominated by domestic transactions in 2022 (42 percent), while the share of foreign investment by domestic firms remained essentially unchanged.
Hungarian companies invested most frequently in Poland (6), Croatia (4), Germany, Romania, and Slovenia (3-3). The top countries of companies investing in Hungary were the United States (6), the United Kingdom (5), France (4), and the Czech Republic and the Netherlands (3 percent).
Márton Paulovits, EY’s director of M&A, said that supply chain disruption, war, inflation, the changing interest rate environment, and the energy crisis have slowed growth, and many companies have found a way out of the crisis through transactions.
According to EY’s announcement, the most attractive sector by number of deals in 2022 was technology (36), followed by real estate (15), energy (12), and manufacturing (10).
At the beginning of 2023, Minister for Economic Development Márton Nagy announced that
Corvinus Nemzetközi Befektetési Zrt. will acquire a 49 percent stake in Vodafone Hungary on behalf of the Hungarian state.
With the deal finalized, Corvinus Nemzetközi Befektetési Zrt., Antenna Hungária Zrt. (a subsidiary of 4iG Nyrt), and Vodafone Europe BV have signed an agreement to acquire Vodafone Hungary Telecommunications Zrt. According to the announcement, the HUF 660 billion (EUR 1.66 billion) transaction gives Antenna Hungária a 51 percent stake, while Corvinus Zrt. acquired 49 percent indirect ownership of the second largest Hungarian telecommunications company from Vodafone Europe BV. The deal is described as the largest corporate acquisition in the post-communism period in Hungary.
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