Value of Mideast mergers and acquisitions reached $56 bln in 2015

The value of announced M&A transactions with any Middle Eastern involvement reached $56.2 billion during full year 2015, the MENA Managing Director at Thomson Reuters said in a report released on Monday.

The figure is “13% more than the value registered during the same period in 2014 and marks the best annual period since 2008,” Nadim Najjar said.

The report, by Thomson Reuters and Freeman Consulting, also found that Middle Eastern investment banking fees reached $636.4 million during full year 2015.

The figure was 16% less than the value recorded during full year 2014 and the lowest annual period for investment banking fees in the region since 2012.

“Middle Eastern equity and equity-related issuance totaled $5.7 billion during the full year 2015, a 50% decline from full year 2014 and the slowest annual period for equity capital markets issuance in the region in two years. Middle Eastern debt issuance reached $6.2 billion during the fourth quarter of 2015, a significant increase compared to the value raised during the previous quarter,” Najjar added.

With regards to investment banking fees, fees from completed M&A transactions totaled $213.1 million during full year 2015, a 4% increase compared to a year ago and the only investment banking product in the region to see a year-over-year gain.

M&A fees accounted for 33% of the overall Middle Eastern investment banking fee pool, the highest annual share since fee records began in 2000.

Equity capital markets underwriting declined 33% compared to last year, while syndicated lending fees totaled $278.6 million, down 16% from 2014. Fees from debt capital markets underwriting declined 33% year-on-year to $59.1 million.

HSBC earned the most investment banking fees in the Middle East during full year 2015, a total of $62.9 million for a 9.9% share of the total fee pool and up 2.1 wallet share points compared to a year ago.

HSBC also topped the completed M&A fee rankings, while Nomura was first for DCM underwriting. EFG Hermes took the top spot for ECM underwriting fees in the region with 15.5% share. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group took the top spot in the Middle Eastern syndicated loans fee ranking with $18.2 million in fees for 6.5% of the market.

(Edited by Al Arabiya News)