Javier Zarraonandia, Corporate Development Director, for El Economista

In a geopolitical context in which with Trump’s return to power it seems that tariffs are once again taking center stage, the reality is that in the world of M&A and corporate operations, the well-known saying that “you can’t put fences in the countryside” is more fashionable than ever.

For more and more sectors and more companies, the market and the item is no longer local but global. As a result, at ALBIA IMAP we are seeing that the number of international M&A operations has skyrocketed in recent years. As an example of this, the fact that 50% of the transactions we have closed in 2023 have been cross-border and no less than 60% in this past year 2024.

This is a consequence of the fact that, on the one hand, our companies are increasingly clear about the advantages of growing inorganically to enter and have a presence in new markets. And on the other hand, we perceive that international investors see Spanish companies with great interest and attractiveness since we have very competitive companies and still with a small size compared to international companies. All this leads us to two reflections.

On the one hand, when it comes to addressing growth and internationalization processes (even more so in the current context of imposing significant tariffs at the international level), inorganic growth can help us find the positioning we need very quickly and efficiently.

And on the other hand, and in order to be able to deal with foreign investors who want to enter our market, we need to grow and acquire the most efficient possible size in our company, for which once again, mergers and acquisitions are an exceptionally effective way to quickly gain size, market share and muscle against third parties.

All this and in short, because the world in general and our competitors in particular, move quickly and in these cases, the worst decision is not to make any decision at all.