Economic growth on the continent is set to grow significantly in the coming decades as a result of foreign direct investment (FDI), which at 5.7% is at its highest in a decade. Traditionally, South Africa is the largest recipient of FDI. When combined with Nigeria and Kenya, these three countries make up 40% of net FDI into Africa, reports EY's attractiveness survey.
Further, South Africa ranks third in financial market development, says the World Economic Forum's 2013/2014 Global Competitiveness Report. In 2011, Africa ranked third last out of ten listed global markets based on its global investment attractiveness. In 2014, however, Africa moved up the list, ranking at number two.
In a fast-changing world, companies need to ensure that they are quickly adapting to these changes and the opportunities that they bring - particularly with regard to potential for growth and on-going competitiveness.
Today, the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market, particularly in South Africa, is highly active and constantly evolving. Companies are continually evaluating their growth strategies and striving to adapt to fast-changing local and international macroeconomic factors.
This means that information an M&A practitioner may have gathered on a potential acquirer's acquisition strategy, may become out of date very quickly. So, how does an M&A practitioner ensure that they have the latest information?
Technology today has given Xigo, part of the global BCMS group, the opportunity to build, maintain and interrogate a huge database of knowledge that reflects the growth appetite of many tens of thousands of companies worldwide. The BCMS/Xigo process involves conducting negotiative dialogue with over 60,000 companies a year. This is a direct result of BCMS/Xigo researching and selecting around 200 prospective acquirers for each customer looking to sell.
The information gathered from these discussions over many years has been input into a proprietary database to create a rich source of information for research executives to interrogate and potentially match to acquisition opportunities. This customised database is also used to track and record all past interactions globally with CEOs and acquisition directors, so a mapped history of conversations is available to be viewed. This allows more relevant and meaningful discussions to take place that don't waste senior executives' time.
In addition, the BCMS group uses a project management system to track progress on individual sales as they progress through the process, allowing all involved professionals to view and act upon up-to-date information. This ensures that no opportunity is left unexplored and communication is timeous and explicit.
To sum up - it is sage to bear in mind that when planning the sale of a business, technology that delivers relevant, up-to-date information, in a speedy fashion, can shorten deal cycles and improve the prospect of successful transactions being concluded.
