The UAE has gained eight places over the last five years and is currently ranked as the 19th most attractive country for M&A (merger & acquisition) activity, a report said.

Advancements in technological development are responsible for driving the UAE’s index score upwards, added the 2013 M&A Attractiveness Index published by Cass Business School, part of City University London.

The annual report, released by Cass’s M&A Research Centre, ranks 131 countries on their ability to attract and sustain domestic and inward M&A deals.

The rankings are based on an analysis of a country’s regulatory and political environment, economic and financial factors, infrastructure and assets, technological capability and socio-economic characteristics.

Director of Cass’s M&A Research Centre, Professor Scott Moeller, said: “The UAE is one of the clear front runners in terms of moving up the rankings as a mature country in our M&A Attractiveness Index. The UAE’s strong advancements in technology as well as a stable regulatory environment are increasing its potential as a future growth market for M&A activity.”

“Our findings conclude that, region-wide, the Middle East has also seen improvement, mainly driven by a positive change in the regulatory and financial factors in the UAE, Yemen, Iraq and Turkey.”

The US retained top spot in the rankings, followed by South Korea, Singapore, the UK and Hong Kong.  The other top 10 countries are Germany, Canada, France, Netherlands and China.

China’s ascent pushed Japan out of the top 10 for the first time as it slumped to 11th.  Canada was the only other top 10 country to suffer a fall as it sank two places to 7th year on year.

Hong Kong continued its rise in the rankings, leaping two places to 5th.  With South Korea and Singapore maintaining their grip on 2nd and 3rd, Asian countries now make up four of the top 10 most attractive destinations for M&A deals.

The Mergers and Acquisitions Research Centre at Cass Business School is the first research centre at a major business school to pursue focused leading edge research into the global mergers and acquisitions industry. – TradeArabia News Service