The value of announced M&A transactions with any Mena involvement currently stands at an all-time high, up 160 per cent from YTD 2018 reaching $120.6 billion so far this year, said Refinitiv, a top provider of financial markets data.

Deals with a Mena target, inter-Mena or domestic and inbound deals all stand at all-time high volumes with $104.7, $88.2 and $$16.4 up 289 per cent, 584 per cent and 18 per cent from YTD last year, respectively.

On the other hand, outbound volumes fell 29 per cent from YTD last year to $9.2 billion so far this year. Energy and Power deals currently account for 78 per cent of Mena target M&A by value, followed by the Financial sector with a 14 per cent 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.

Refinitiv today released the 2019 third quarter investment banking analysis for the Middle East. According to the report, investment banking fees in Mena totalled an estimated $651.4 million so far during 2019, 15.2 per cent 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 $148.7 million, up 1.2 per cent year-on-year to the second highest level on record. Equity capital markets fees decreased 56.6 per cent to $24.1 million; a 10-year low. Fees generated from completed M&A transactions totalled $210.3 million, a 218 per cent increase from last year to an 11-year high. Syndicated loan fees reached $268.4million, down 9.6 per cent from YTD 2018.

Debt capital markets fees accounted for 23 per cent of the overall Mena investment banking fee pool while Syndicated lending fees accounted for 41 per cent. The share of completed M&A advisory fees up from12 per cent to 32 per cent, to reach a 4-year high. Equity capital markets underwriting fees accounted for 4 per cent, 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 $70.3 million for a 10.8 per cent share of the total fee pool, followed by JP Morgan and Standard Chartered in second and third place, respectively.

Mena equity and equity-related issuance totalled $1.7 billion so far during 2019, a 57 per cent decrease year-on-year to the lowest level since YTD 2004. With $1 billion, IPOs represent 61 per cent of the region's ECM issuance, up from 25.1 per cent during YTD last year. Morocco stands out as the top issuing nation with $1 billion raised in ECM issuance, followed by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. At a sector level, Real Estate account for 39 per cent of the region’s issuance with Financials coming in second place. Arabian Centres Company’s $660 million raised through an IPO stands out as the biggest deal in the region so far this year.

Up 5 per cent compared to the first nine months of 2018, Mena debt issuance currently stands at a $77.5 billion. Sovereign issuanceup8.2 per cent from YTD last year currently standing at the second highest level on record. Saudi Arabia leads Mena issuance by country with $26.6 billion raised in proceeds so far this year, followed by the UAE and Qatar. Raising $12 billion each, Qatar sovereign bond and Saudi Arabian Oil Co corporate issues stand out as the two biggest deals so far this year. – TradeArabia News Service