Middle East Equity Capital Markets Activity Totals US$ 5 billion by 1st Half 2012 [Emirates News Agency (WAM) (United Arab Emirates)]

Dubai, 8 July 2012 /WAM/ - Thomson Reuters today released its 2012 investment banking analysis for the Middle East region, which revealed equity capital markets issuance reached US$04 billion during the second quarter of 2012, nearly four times the value seen during the previous quarter.

According to the report, Middle Eastern M&A activity reached US$58 billion during the second quarter of 2012, an increase of 45 on the previous quarter, and marking the strongest quarter since 1Q 2010.

Russell Haworth, Managing Director, Middle East & North Africa at Thomson Reuters, commented: "Investment banking has seen strong activity across Middle Eastern markets during the second quarter of 2012. This is clearly evident by the strong M&A activity during the second quarter which took the total value of M&A to US$314 billion by the first half of 2012, an increase of 137 over the same period in 2011 when activity totaled US$06 billion."

Equity capital markets activity during the first half of 2012 totaled US$ 05, down 40 from the first six months of 2011. The top Middle Eastern ECM transaction was a US$91 billion follow-on from Qatari telecoms company Qtel. Bolstered by this deal, Telecoms was the most active sector in the Middle East during the first half of 2012 with 44 , followed by the Financials sector with 26 . As sole-lead bookrunner for Qtel's follow-on offering, Qatar National Bank topped the Middle Eastern Equity Capital Markets ranking.

Financials is the most targeted industry in the Middle East M&A activity with US$34 billion or 30 of the activity so far during 2012, followed closely by Telecoms with 29 . Egypt is the most active Middle Eastern country, based on target, with US$04 billion for 28 of first half activity. Middle Eastern debt issuance reached US$06 billion during the second quarter of 2012, a 45 decline from the strong first quarter total of US$910 billion. It took first half 2012 activity to U$916 billion, up 51 on the same period in 2011.

Islamic debt issuance reached US$514 billion from 34 issues, an increase of 25 from the same period in 2011, and the strongest first six month total since 2008. The top Islamic issuer nation during the first half of 2012 is Malaysia with 45 of the activity, while the strongest industry is the financials sector. HSBC took the top spot in the Islamic bond ranking for the first half of 2012 with 10 issues, which raised US$91 billion.

Middle Eastern syndicated lending during the first half of 2012 reached just US$8186 million, a 98 decrease from the same period in 2011 /US$210 billion/, and the slowest first half in more than a decade. As book runner on Citadel Capital's US$175 million refinancing loan in January, Citi took the top spot in the Middle Eastern Loan Bookrunner ranking for first half 2012.

Finally, the Middle Eastern investment banking fees reached US$8234 million during the first half of 2012, a 5 increase from the first six months of 2011 when fees reached US$7223 million. M&A fees totaled $659 million during the first half, accounting for 25 of the overall fee pool. M&A fees were down 19 compared to the same period in 2011 /US$074 million/.

Middle Eastern debt capital markets fee activity during the first half of 2012 totaled US$954 million, more than double the US$125 million seen during the first half of 2011. Fees from syndicated lending and equity capital markets totaled US$361 million and US$059 million, respectively.

Deutsche Bank topped the Middle Eastern DCM fee rankings for the first half of 2012, earning 10 of the fees. HSBC topped the Middle Eastern M&A fee rankings with US$35 million, while Qatar National Bank and Saudi British Bank topped the equity capital markets and syndicated lending fee league tables, respectively.