Overall Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) values and volumes in Vietnam returned to a growth path in the 4 th quarter of 2009, giving grounds for optimism for 2010, said worldwide business and legal consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The company said in a recent report that registered M&A deal values figure for Vietnam rose by 2 percent in 2009 whereas various geographical regions experienced declines in deal values, including a 22 percent decline in the US and a 38 percent shrink in Southeast Asia . China , meanwhile, saw an 11 percent decrease and Europe , 50 percent.

Vietnam also continued to experience dramatic growth in announced deal volumes and again stands out in comparison with other regions of the world, the PricewaterhouseCoopers said.

The company attributed the achievements to the improved access to M&A related information in Vietnam and said further improvements are expected to go forwards as the number of public companies increases and interest in M&A continues to rise.

During 2009, the industrial sector accounted to almost a quarter of all announced M&A deals targeting Vietnamese companies, up from 15 percent in 2008. The share of deal volumes attributable to the energy and power sector increased from 7 percent in 2008 to 17 percent in 2009 whilst that related to the financial sector fell from 22 percent to 12 percent.

The report said Vietnam is expected to see continued growth in deal activity in all categories, especially deals between domestic companies as growing Vietnamese corporations look for M&A targets in order to invest their cash surpluses and to facilitate further growth./.