MENA equity and equity-related issuance reached US$1.7 billion while debt issuance totaled US$77.5 billion
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Refinitiv today released the 2019 third quarter investment banking analysis for the Middle East. According to the report, Middle Eastern and North African investment banking fees totalled an estimated US$651.4 million so far during 2019, 15.2% more than the value of fees recorded during the first nine months of 2018 and a 3-year high.
Debt capital markets underwriting fees totalled US$148.7 million, up 1.2% year-on-year to the second highest level on record. Equity capital markets fees decreased 56.6% to US$24.1 million; a 10-year low. Fees generated from completed M&A transactions totalled US$210.3 million, a 218% increase from last year to an 11-year high. Syndicated loan fees reached US$268.4million, down 9.6% from YTD 2018.
Debt capital markets fees accounted for 23% of the overall MENA investment banking fee pool while Syndicated lending fees accounted for 41%. The share of completed M&A advisory fees up from12% to 32%, to reach a 4-year high. Equity capital markets underwriting fees accounted for 4%, down to a 10-year low. HSBC earned the most investment banking fees in the Middle East and North Africa so far during 2019, a total of US$70.3 million for a 10.8% share of the total fee pool, followed by JP Morgan and Standard Chartered in second and third place, respectively.
The value of announced M&A transactions with any Middle Eastern and North African involvement currently stand at an all-time high, up 160% from YTD 2018 reaching US$120.6 Billion so far this year. Deals with a MENA target, inter-MENA or domestic and inbound deals all stand at all-time high volumes with US$104.7, US$88.2 and US$$16.4 up 289%, 584% and 18% from YTD last year, respectively. On the other hand, outbound volumes fell 29% from YTD last year to US$9.2 billion so far this year. Energy and Power deals currently account for 78% of MENA target M&A by value, followed by the Financial sector with a 14% market share. HSBC currently leads in the 9M any MENA involvement league table, followed by JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs in second and third place, respectively.
MENA equity and equity-related issuance totalled US$1.7 billion so far during 2019, a 57% decrease year-on-year to the lowest level since YTD 2004. With US$1 billion, IPOs represent 61% of the region's ECM issuance, up from 25.1% during YTD last year. Morocco stands out as the top issuing nation with US$1 billion raised in ECM issuance, followed by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. At a sector level, Real Estate account for 39% of the region’s issuance with Financials coming in second place. Arabian Centres Co US$660 million raised through an IPO, stands out as the biggest deal in the regionsofar this year.
Up 5% compared to the first nine months of 2018, MENA debt issuance currently stands at a US$77.5 billion. Sovereign issuanceup8.2% from YTD last year currently standing at the second highest level on record. Saudi Arabia leads MENA issuance by country with US$26.6 billion raised in proceeds so far this year, followed by the UAE and Qatar. Raising US$12 billion each, Qatar sovereign bond and Saudi Arabian Oil Co corporate issues stand out as the two biggest deals so far this year.
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