Middle Eastern & North African investment banking fees totalled an estimated $504.8m so far during 2019, 12.7 percent less than the value of fees recorded during the first half of 2018. Debt capital markets underwriting fees totalled $147.6m, up 1.7 percent year-on-year the second highest fee volume for the region since our records began in 2000.
Refinitiv’s 2019 Q2 investment banking analysis for the Middle East released yesterday noted banking major HSBC earned the most investment banking fees in the Mena so far during 2019, a total of $65.8m for a 13 percent share of the total fee pool. Refinitiv is one of the world’s largest providers of financial markets data.
The region’s equity capital markets fees decreased a significant 64.8 percent to $24m, a 10-year low. Fees generated from completed M&A transactions totalled $207.4m, a 232 percent increase from last year to the second highest level on record. Syndicated loan fees reached $125.8m, down 58.4 percent from YTD 2018. Debt capital markets fees accounted for 29.2 percent of the overall Middle Eastern & North African investment banking fee pool, the second highest market share since YTD 2001.
Syndicated lending fees accounted for 24.9 percent while the share of completed M&A advisory fees raised to the highest YTD level on record, accounting for 41.1 percent of the market. Equity capital markets underwriting fees accounted for 4.8 percent, a 10-year low.
As to Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), the value of announced M&A transactions with any Middle Eastern & North African involvement at an all-time high reaching $112bn in the first half of 2019, 231 percent more than the value recorded during YTD 2018.
While Mena inbound M&A also stands at a YTD all-time high of $15.1bn, outbound M&A decreased from $6.5bn in YTD 2018 to $4.6bn so far during 2019, the lowest volume since YTD 2004. Energy & Power deals currently account for 80 percent of Middle Eastern and North African involvement M&A by value, followed by the financial sector with a 13.7 percent market share but counting with 44 transactions, 18 more than the 26 recorded in the Energy & Power industry.
As to Equity Capital Markets, Middle Eastern and North African equity and equity-related issuance totalled $1.1bn so far during 2019, a 73 percent decrease year-on-year to the lowest level since YTD 2004. With $923.2m, IPOs represent 88 percent of the region’s ECM issuance, up from 16 percent during YTD last year.
Despite showing a 12 percent decreased compared to YTD 2018, debt issuance in the Middle Eastern and North African region currently stands at the third highest level since our records began, reaching $53.1bn so far this year. Qatar was the second most active nation in the region accounting for 29.6 percent of activity by value of issuance so far, this year.
