A total of 276 M&A deals were transacted in Poland last year, fewer than in Turkey (297) but more than in the Czech Republic (155), according to a report by Ernst & Young.

In terms of value, Poland came in a close third, with M&A deals worth a total value of $8.02 billion, behind Turkey and the Czech Republic.

Less money than last year

But despite the high ranking, Poland saw a significant decrease in the value of deals from 2011, when it amounted to $21.2 billion. The decline is mainly attributable to the lack of blockbuster transactions, of which there were several in 2011, E&Y said (the number of total transactions in 2011, at 254, was smaller than in 2012).

Source: Ernst & Young

In Poland, 90 percent of the mergers and acquisitions were carried out with the help of strategic investors. The most active investors hailed from the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom.

M&As down in region

The survey was carried out in 11 countries: Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey. Only in the Czech Republic, Greece, Poland, Slovakia and Turkey did the M&A market grow in 2012, while throughout the region it shrunk by 17.6 percent.

In total, 1,108 merger and acquisition transactions took place in the countries surveyed, amounting to a cumulative value of $41.8 billion.

Remi Adekoya