FORDATA: First edition of FORDATA CEE Expert Report has been released

FORDATA CEE Expert Report is a new quarterly publication that involves experts in different fields, who periodically share their comments and analyses of trends in the local economies. The first edition of the report has featured experts from Artemis Group, Newton Business Development, PwC, Savills and Colliers International, among others, and is devoted to the notion of security.

According to Aleksandra Prusator, director and co-owner at FORDATA - a virtual data room provider that hosts the report, the publication is meant to be an insider’s attempt at answering questions that have arisen in the CEE region in the unprecedented situation caused by COVID-19. As markets partially collapsed, people lost their jobs and remote trends kick-started, the goal of the report is to collect a varied array of thoughts and commentaries on the CEE economy that will serve as a kaleidoscopic record of market reality, rather than be a periodic, data-centred analysis.

In this way, as it is believed, the report will help build a more relatable and engaging platform for professional dialogue.

Spring this year reminded me of the financial crisis in 2008 and the outcomes for Mergers & Acquisitions market not only in the CEE region. The experience from that time was clear. Lots of promising deals had been cancelled followed by 1-2 years of balancing the gap between the very different price expectations of buyers and sellers. Buyers were looking for a bargain price and sellers were not willing to sell based on the current bad underlying financial results leading to unattractive price conditions. This year’s summer gave me hope that it would be different in the COVID-19-lead crisis. - says Michal Tesar, Partner & Co-founder at Newton Business Development, quoted in the report.

The authors of the report leave a space for guest appearances of many various market professionals - from mergers and acquisitions, to tax, to Real Estate. Such a formula is believed to open new ways for dialogue between regional experts and help promote the CEE markets abroad.

Fear, uncertainty and doubt seem to have ceased in the third quarter of the year to a degree that sparks new hope for recovery in the CEE region. Clearly enough, though, investors and banks are now inclined toward financing assets which are least at risk of closing down, comes the second wave of lockdowns, whereas many sectors still remain non-bankable - comment the authors of the report.

Each edition of the report will focus on a different topical issue, which is common to all Central and Eastern European economies. As security has been chosen as the main topic of the first edition, the authors answer questions such as the way local communities are or aren’t safe, besides the obvious, how investors, advisers and company owners perceive this term today, how the nearest future look from the current perspective of CEE markets, or whether market participants will be able to get used to the new conditions.

The CEE region, as well as other developed regions around the world, is currently affected by recent development of financial markets and by global and national measures and restrictions following the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Till now, the activity on the M&A market in CEE has not seen significant decline. However, a decline in deal numbers and deal volume will be the most likely scenario in the period ahead – comments Torsten Adam, Founder of Atremis Group, who is a featured expert in the report.

FORDATA has prepared detailed quarterly reports on Polish M&A market since 2013. Together with invited experts, we published The Code of Best Transactional Practices and The Code of Best Restructuring Practices as part of our For Better Data Flow campaign in 2015 and 2016.