THE NUMBER of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in Slovakia in 2004 increased by 39 percent year-on-year, to reach 85.
An analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers ranks Slovakia fifth out of nine Central and Eastern European states in terms of the number of M&As in the private sector.
Russia ranked first, followed by Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary.
Foreign investors as well as local companies are behind the growing number of transactions in the private sector, the Hospodárske noviny business daily wrote.
Slovakia last year recorded four M&As worth over $100 million (€77 million) each, while the average value of an M&A was $60 million (€46 million), down from $109 million (€83 million) in 2003.
The biggest transaction was the sale of a 49 percent stake of mobile operator EuroTel to Slovak Telecom.
