RIYADH: Saudi Arabia saw a 17.4 percent surge in mergers and acquisitions approvals in 2024, reflecting the Kingdom’s efforts to strengthen its competitive business environment. 

The General Authority for Competition approved 202 economic concentration requests — the highest number in its history — with 10 additional applications still under review, according to its annual report. 

Economic concentration approvals are required for mergers and acquisitions to ensure they do not create monopolies or disrupt market competition. 

The surge in approvals aligns with GAC’s goal of implementing competition-enhancing policies, combating illegal monopolistic practices, and improving market performance to boost consumer and business confidence, attract investment, and promote sustainable development.

Saudi Arabia’s surging mergers and acquisitions market comes against a global backdrop of decline in the industry, with a GlobalData report released in December showing worldwide deal volume dropped 8.7 percent year-on-year in the first 11 months of 2024 — with the Middle East and Africa region seeing a relatively modest 5 percent decline. 

Acquisition deals dominated approvals in the Kingdom at 81 percent, followed by joint ventures at 15 percent, and mergers at just 2 percent, the report showed. 

The manufacturing sector led in activity, accounting for 67 of the approved requests, followed by the information and communications sector with 39, and wholesale and retail trade, along with motor vehicle and motorcycle repairs, with 22. 

Foreign companies also showed significant interest in the manufacturing sector, which claimed 28 percent of their concentration requests, followed by information and communications at 17 percent, and wholesale and retail trade at 15 percent. 

GAC noted a growing diversity in market activity, with requests received in emerging sectors like off-road tires, nicotine replacement therapy manufacturing, and industrial protective coatings. 

The Kingdom led the Middle East in mergers and acquisitions in the chemicals sector during the first quarter of 2024, closing deals worth $500 million. 

Additionally, the authority approved four new car agency registrations during the year and analyzed 53 percent of concentration requests based on horizontal relationships between entities operating within the same sector. Vertical and cluster relationships accounted for 16 percent and 31 percent of reviews, respectively. 

The surge in approvals aligns with Vision 2030, which aims to create a business-friendly environment that attracts foreign investment and supports sectoral growth. 

As Saudi Arabia strengthens its regulatory and economic frameworks, the surge in merger approvals reflects its ambition to establish itself as a regional hub for business and investment. 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has now issued more than 36,000 investment licenses, a five-fold rise compared to the overall active permits before the launch of Vision 2030. 

According to the government-backed Invest Saudi platform, the Kingdom witnessed an 118 percent growth in entrepreneurial license issuance in 2024 compared to the previous year, while permits in the wholesale and retail trade sector increased by 123 percent during the same period. 

The Kingdom launched the Invest Saudi initiative to attract foreign direct investment by offering incentives, streamlining regulatory processes, and facilitating partnerships. 

As part of this, the Kingdom updated its investment law in August to ensure enhanced protections for international investors, including adherence to the rule of law, fair treatment, and property rights, while ensuring robust safeguards for intellectual property and facilitating smooth fund transfers.

“Saudi Arabia is growing steadily in achieving remarkable milestones and attracting investments, exceeding the targets of Saudi Vision 2030 with exceptional results in license issuance and the growth of promising sectors,” said Invest Saudi on X. 

It added that the most licensed sectors since the launch of Vision 2030 are manufacturing, construction, professional and scientific, as well as wholesale and retail trade, and information and communication technology. 

Invest Saudi further said that the Kingdom has surpassed its regional headquarters target outlined in the Vision 2030 program, as more than 500 international firms have established their Middle Eastern base in the country.

The Kingdom’s regional headquarters program provides benefits for international firms, including a 30-year exemption from corporate income tax and withholding tax on headquarters activities for companies, as well as discounts and support services. 

Some of the major companies that have launched their regional headquarters in Saudi Arabia include US-based multinational investment banks Morgan Stanley and Citi Group, as well as BlackRock Inc., Northern Trust, Bechtel, and PepsiCo. 

Invest Saudi is supporting the Kingdom’s National Investment Strategy, which is aiming to increase FDI by more than 20x from SR17 billion ($4.5 billion) in 2019 to SR388 billion in 2030.

It is also targeting increasing investment from 22 percent of GDP in 2019 to 30 percent by the end of the decade.