The growth momentum in the euro zone helped the region log its highest annual value of mergers for over 10 years in 2017, according to new data from research firm Mergermarket.
Throughout last year, more than 4,000 deals targeted the euro zone and were worth a total of 476.7 billion euros ($584.48 billion), the data showed. This represented an increase of 19.3 percent by value from the previous year.
“Despite a clear increase in domestic consolidation in the U.K., the euro zone represents 57.4 percent of the European value,” Jonathan Klonowski, research editor (EMEA) at Mergermarket, said in the new report.
According to Volker Geyrhalter, a partner at law firm Hogan Lovells, the uncertainty surrounding the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union didn’t have an impact in driving the mergers on the European continent.
“Brexit is unlikely to have played a material role in intra-euro zone mergers and acquisitions,” Geyrhalter also said in the study. “This is most likely to have been driven by renewed confidence in the euro area economies as evidenced by recent macro data,” he added.
The European Central Bank estimated in a report in December that euro zone GDP (gross domestic product) rose by 2.4 percent during 2017.
