OREANDA-NEWS. April 25, 2013. Automotive mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the first half of 2012 has given way to macroeconomic pressures, resulting in passive M&A activity in 2012 overall, PwC reports in Driving Value: Automotive M&A Insights 2012.

The automotive industry's overall M&A deal volume declined 18 percent and deal value declined by 33 percent, compared to 2011. In comparison, in 2012, global cross-sector M&A activity declined less than the automotive sector, with deal volumes declining by seven percent and deal value declining by 17 percent compared to 2011.

While some regions continue to show signs of stabilization and profitability after the recession in 2008-2009, the economic crisis in Europe is still an ongoing issue of concern. Europe’s share of global automotive deal volumes is down for the second straight year, while Asia continues to grow its presence, becoming the largest acquirer region in 2012.

With Europe’s debt crisis weighing heavily on the European automotive sector, automotive M&A activity declined in terms of deal volume and value when compared to 2011, when a total of 594 deals were completed for a disclosed value of USD 44.9 billion. The automotive sector transacted 98 deals during Q4 2012, marking the third straight quarter of decreasing deal volume.

The PwC report shows:

Vehicle manufacturers experienced their strongest year in the past five years, in terms of volume and disclosed value, while seeking cost synergies such as technology and platform sharing through strategic alliances.

Component suppliers saw steady transaction volumes in the first half of 2012, but declined significantly in the second half.

The most active region for vehicle manufacturers was Asia, where 41 of the 97 deals in 2012 were transacted.

The "others" category, including retail, aftermarket, rental/leasing and wholesale, etc., experienced a significant slowdown in 2012.

Financial buyers’ share of M&A volume declined to 24 percent, which represented the lowest levels witnessed since the depths of the recession.

Financial buyers continued to shift their focus away from Europe and toward U.S. and Asian assets.

Trade buyers increased their focus on vehicle manufacturers in 2012 and also shifted their focus away from Europe toward Asian assets.

New car demand in the Europe Union and European Free Trade Association (EU+EFTA) declined by 7.8 percent to 12.5 million units in 2012, while new car sales in Europe stalled at 3.5 units below its 2007 peak.

North American acquirers’ share of global M&A increased from 20 percent in 2010 to 27 percent in 2012, while North American entities achieved 34 out of 102 cross border deals.

Asia made up more than one third of the global automotive M&A volume during 2012, with most of the activity transacted within its own region. Emerging countries like China and India are likely to capitalize on the opportunity to acquire technology or market access at favorable valuations in Europe.

Additionally, the report found that Asia topped Europe in 2012 as the largest global acquirer. Europe was the largest beneficiary of cross border investments with 47 inbound deals transacted in the region during 2012, 43 percent of which were investments by U.S. companies.

Sergey Litvinenko, senior manager in the auto industry advisory practice at PwC Russia, noted:

“The European debt crisis, the uncertainty in the United States surrounding the election and budget deficit, the slowdown in China’s economic growth and a number of other factors were behind the more conservative approach among investors toward M&A deals in 2012, including in the auto sector. In contrast to their European peers, Asian companies were quite active on the M&A market with the aim of gaining access to technology and boosting their competitiveness on both global and domestic markets against a background of falling corporate valuations in the US and Europe. As for deals in the automotive sector, relatively small and medium-sized transactions involving strategic investors have predominated.”

Looking ahead, PwC’s positive outlook for M&A stems from the forecasted 30 million units estimated to be added to the industry between 2012 and 2019.  Key factors predicted to spark automotive M&A growth are:

High levels of liquidity on corporate balance sheets

Strategic initiatives to expand market share and grow customer, technological and product portfolios

Resolution of  Europe’s sovereign debt issues of its member states

Strong economic recovery and pent-up demand in developed countries

Resumption of trend line economic growth in China and India.