M&A expected to soar in second half 18:25 | 03/05/2021 News of a couple of big M&A deals are warming up the market During the pandemic, investment into M&A reduced significantly, while newly-registered and additional investment decreased by a smaller rate, with occasional rises. The foreign direct investment (FDI) report of the Ministry of Planning and Investmentâs Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) in the first four months showed significant decreases in capital contributions and share purchases, with 1,151 instances (down 64.1 per cent) and a total investment of $1 billion (down 57.8 billion). This can be explained by the fact that the economy and investment activities in the country were not yet impacted by COVID-19 in the first few months of 2020, so FDI and M&A activities were still quite dynamic during that time. Specifically, $827.3 million was poured into the economy through capital contribution and share purchases in the first two months of 2020, and the figure surged quickly to $2 billion in the first quarter and $2.48 billion in the first four months.