Hello dear readers,
I had the chance to speak with Giovanni Amodeo, mergermarket’s Global Editor-in-Chief about the latest M&A activity in Europe and future trends. Giovanni became Editor of mergermarket in October 2007 after having been appointed Editor of wealthmonitor in July 2006. Between September 2005 and July 2006 he was Frankfurt Bureau Chief. Prior, he was Italian Correspondent for the Milan Bureau for three years and served as telecommunications, leisure and media reporter for one and half years.
Before joining mergermarket in 2001, Giovanni spent ten months in the Italian Air Force. He graduated in Economics from the University of Brescia, Italy, and spent nine months at the University of Mainz in Germany as an exchange student. He also worked at Commerzbank and wrote his dissertation thesis on “Private Banking in the German market: the case of Commerzbank”.
Q: Giovanni, what do you expect to happen to the level of M&A activity in Europe over the next 12 months?
A: It is difficult to predict in the current climate. After a booming start of the year, there has been a decline both in terms of value and of volume. The recent crashes in the stock exchange are not helping. However, companies are still looking to make deals, perhaps not as big in terms of size as at the beginning of the year. The IPO market is currently slow, which will force companies to refocus on their strategy.
Q: Which sectors do you believe will offer most opportunities for growth in the next 12 months?
A: Probably the technology, defence and consumer sectors.
Q: Which geographical region globally do you think will have the highest level of M&A activity in the next 12 months?
A: Companies are shifting their interest towards the BRIC countries, as also shown by mm data. However, in terms of region, I would expect the US to be the biggest contributor to the total M&A activity.
Q: What’s your best career moment?
A: Every day I have new challenges, but the three years spent in Italy as country reporter forged my character and enabled me to be where I am now.
Thank you, Giovanni!
