Mubasher: Merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) surged 65%, reaching $45.1 billion in the first nine months of 2018, marking an eight-year high, according to a new report.
The MENA region’s inbound M&A deals hit an all-time high of $13.1 billion after the Saudi British Bank (SABB) acquired Alawwal Bank in Saudi Arabia, while outbound deals rose year-on-year to $12 billion from $8.5 billion, Refinitiv said in a report released on Monday.
The data also showed that fees generated through completed M&A deals slid 44% to $101.6 million between January and September, recording their lowest rate since the first nine months since 2005.
“Energy and Power deals accounted for 28.9% of MENA’s involvement M&A by value, followed by the financial sector with a 24.5% market share but counting with 91 transactions, 32 more than the 59 recorded in the Energy and Power industry,” the report noted.
Citi topped the M&A advisory league table with $57 million in fees or an 8.3% of the total fee pool.
“JP Morgan topped both the completed ECM and Syndicated Loans fee rankings with 13.9% and 7.7% of fees, respectively. DCM underwriting was led by Standard Chartered with US$28.3 million in ECM fees, or a 15.7% share,” the report stated.
MENA’s investment banking fees tumbled 8% year-on-year during the nine-month period of 2018 to $684 billion.
Refinitiv is the Financial and Risk business division of Thomson Reuters. It offers offers leading data and insights, trading platforms, open data and technology platforms services for financial markets and data infrastructure for more than 40,000 companies in more than 190 nations.
