Abu Dhabi asset reshuffles swell Mena mergers

• 884 deals in 2025, up from 701
• Total value rises 15% to $106bn
• Largest deals involved Abu Dhabi entities

Mergers and acquisitions activity across the Middle East and North Africa grew substantially last year versus 2024 – both in terms of value and number of deals – although asset reshuffling by Abu Dhabi government-owned institutions inflated the annual figures.

There were 884 deals in Mena in 2025, compared with 701 in 2024, while the combined transaction value rose 15 percent to $106 billion over the same period, according to a report by consultant EY-Parthenon.

Cross-border deals comprised 54 percent of the deal volume and 61 percent of deal value, the report states.

This activity demonstrates “the increasing appetite of companies for international expansion and diversification”, said Brad Watson, managing partner of EY-Parthenon Mena.

“Governments continued to invest steadily, supported by robust economic growth, low public debt, sovereign wealth fund backing and broader economic diversification initiatives. Rising foreign direct investment added further momentum.”

The region’s three largest deals involved companies ultimately owned by Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (Adnoc) and Austria’s OMV, owners of 25 percent and 75 percent respectively of petrochemical manufacturer Borealis, agreed a complicated deal to merge Borealis with Borouge, an Abu Dhabi-based company in which Adnoc owns 54 percent and Borealis 36 percent.

The co-investors will also buy Canada’s Nova Chemicals Corp for $13.4 billion to create Borouge Group International.

Last October Abu Dhabi-owned International Holding Company (IHC) sold a 43 percent stake in real estate developer Modon Holding to L’imad Holding, another Abu Dhabi government entity.

IHC’s $7.7 billion merger of three of its subsidiaries – 2PointZero, Multiply Group and Ghitha Holding – was the region’s third largest deal of 2025. These asset reshuffles swelled the aggregate regional deal value.

In terms of target nations for M&A, the UAE and Saudi Arabia were the location of 59 percent of regional deals, EY estimates. Most of this investment went into technology companies and professional services businesses.

The UAE “remained the preferred destination for foreign investors, supported by expanding trade volumes, resilient domestic demand and sustained economic diversification efforts”, EY wrote.

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Outbound M&A spanned 256 deals, up 29 percent year on year. The combined value of these transactions was $39 billion, of which 14 percent were in the banking and capital markets sector.

More broadly, the increase in Mena M&A activity came despite “regional political unrest, significant global trade policy uncertainties and a once-in-a-generation tech transformation led by AI”, said Anil Menon, Head of M&A and Equity Capital Markets at EY-Parthenon Mena.

“These are times of significant shift in fundamental value of assets and we expect M&A to be deployed surgically by corporates and sovereign wealth funds to drive enduring competitive advantage.”