M&A Spain
During the first quarter of 2017, there were 524 mergers and acquisitions for a total of 23.681 billion euros, some 48% greater in year-on-year terms. This is partly due to more high market operations worth more than 500 million euros.
By sectors, the real state attracted the the highest number of operations with 124, versus the technological sector (73) and the internet (43).
By areas, Portugal, United States and France were the most dynamics countries. The latter attracted the greatest investment (1,687 million euro)
Source: Transactional Track Record
External sector
Between January and March of 2017 the volume of Spanish exports grew by 15.2% year-on-year, some 5 percentage points more than the Eurozone average. In addition, there were 76,908 exporters in Spain, or 3% more than in the same period of the year before.
Corporate sector data
In seasonally adjusted terms, the General Business Index Business Net (INE) grew 6.5% in March with respect to the same month of the previous year. There was notable growth in the commercial and industrial sector.
According to the Ministry of Employment, in April the number of registered companies in the Social Security was 2,858,532. Among them, 94% had less than 10 employees and only 0.16% were big firms (+250 employees).
Investment
According to the latest data from National Accounting for the first quarter of 2017, the gross fixed capital formation registered quarter-on-quarter growth of 2%, a figure not achieved since the second quarter of 2015. Also notable is the excellent development of investment in capital goods
(up 5% year-on-year).
Business Angels
According to AEBAN, 83% of the Spanish business angels are between 35 and 54 years old. In 95.6% of the cases, individual investment per company does not exceed 100,000 euros, and is mostly concentrated in the TIC and financial sectors.
Real wages
Between 2007-15, average salaries in real terms and in purchasing power parity (PPP) increased 5% in Spain as against the OECD average of 2.57%.
Excluding Greece from data, the increase was 3.5%.
Brazilian crisis
Following rumors about the possible removal of Brazilian president Temer because of a new corruption scandal, the Bovespa stock market index ropped 8% and the real has depreciated 6.5%.
This new political crisis comes at a time of apparent economic recovery, but with approval ratings for the government at an historic minimum (9%).
China’s credit rating
Moody’s rating agency has lowered China’s long-term rating from A1-stable to Aa3- negative because of the slowing in its economic growth and an increase in financial vulnerability associated with the increased debt volume (256% of GDP in 2016).
Technological revolution
According to a recent study by Mckinsey Global Institute, “Beyond the Supercycle”, the technological advance will transform supply and demand in the natural resources sector, increasing its productivity and energy efficiency. As part of this process by 2033 between 900 billion and 1.6 trillion dollars in potential added value will be generated in the world economy in terms of cost savings (equivalent to the GDP of Indonesia or Canada depending on its final impact).
