Russian M&A Market in Oil and Gas Surged

The mergers and acquisition market in the oil and gas sector in Russia and CIS grew 19% to $35.7 billion in comparison with 2007.

According to the international auditor PriceWaterhouseCoopers, a surge in mergers and acquisitions was caused by the continued restructuring of Russia's energy sector.

Despite the increased value of M&A deals, their number was almost unchanged from 2006 and stood at 41 transactions as compared with 42 a year earlier. At the same time, the average cost of an M&A deal grew 21% in the reporting period to $870 million or 200-300% more compared with the cost of M&A deals in other geographical regions, PWC said.