Wael Jabsheh Quoted on Investing in Emerging Markets

Akin Gump cross-border transactions partner Wael Jabsheh discussed the topic of dealmaking in the Financier Worldwide article “Investing in emerging markets.”

The article reports that investors are slowly returning to developing nations with roughly $10 billion of capital entering the emerging markets in March and April. A key stock index for emerging nations, the article notes, is up 6.5 percent since the beginning of the year—much better than markets in Europe and ahead of the recent turnaround in US. equities.

According to Jabsheh, “If valuations continue to be attractive relative to overall market conditions, deals will continue to be made. For the time being, as long as global markets remain stable and the cost of capital remains low, investment in emerging markets should not significantly subside.”

Local experience, the article says, can make a big difference when dealing with issues that investors might not otherwise have taken into consideration. “When investing in new markets, investors can sometimes fail to appreciate some of the intangible factors involved in their deals,” said Jabsheh. “The political and cultural dimensions of the market and the business in which you are investing are just as important to understand as the legal and regulatory dimensions. While clearly there is no substitute for conventional due diligence, investors often overlook these less tangible factors because they are not necessarily top of mind when those investors do deals closer to home.”