What were the highs and lows of H1 2017? Quarterly Markets Reviews look at key trends across IB strategy, M&A, ECM, DCM, Leveraged Finance, and Loans, according to Dealogic figures. For more information or a full copy of our H1 2017 Quarterly Reviews, please reach out to our teams below.
Global Highlights
While Q2 2017 global IB revenue was down slightly compared to Q2 2016, overall H1 IB revenue still reached a total of $40.0bn—11% higher than H1 2016. This was thanks to growth in ECM revenue, which saw the largest increase of any product across the Americas, Asia Pacific, and EMEA.
M&A – Global M&A totaled $1.60tr, down from $1.66tr in H1 2016. US M&A ($598.4bn) was at the lowest half-year since H1 2013. Europe-targeted M&A ($469.3bn) was up 22% from H1 2016.
ECM – Global ECM issuance of$440.6bn was up from $335.3bn in H1 2016. IPO volume of $87.1bn was up 80% year-on-year and follow-ons increased 23% to $304.7bn from H1 2016.
DCM – Global DCM volume totaled $3.62tr, on par with H1 2016. Corporate volume ($1.25tr) dropped slightly from H1 2016 ($1.28tr) while FIG volume was up 9% to $842.1bn.
Syndicated Loans – Global syndicated lending increased 7% from H1 2016 to $2.26tr in H1 2017. British American Tobacco signed the biggest loan of H1 ($25.0bn), signed for acquisition purposes.
Deals – The biggest M&A deal of Q2 2017 was Atlantia’s $34.3bn bid for Abertis Infraestructuras on May 15, while the largest ECM deal was Deutsche Bank’s $8.5bn follow-on priced April 7. The biggest IB fee event in H1 2017 was UniCredit’s $13.7bn rights offering with over 30 banks on the transaction.
Americas Highlights
Americas IB revenue grew 17% year-on-year to $23.0bn in H1 2017, with growth seen in all four products. While ECM led by percentage growth, Americas M&A revenue reached a H1 record high of $926m in 2017—up 32% year-on-year and surpassing the previous record of $807m in 2015.
M&A revenue vs. volume – Despite record revenue, Americas M&A volume saw a 16% year-on-year decrease to $693.3bn. Contributing to the decline, US financial sponsor entry deals reached the lowest number since 2003.
US IPOs led ECM growth – US-listed ECM rebounded to $137.5bn in H1 2017, with IPO volume up 242% year-on-year $27.9bn. Convertibles also experienced a considerable jump compared to H1 2016.
Latin America’s largest Century bond on record – Argentina’s $2.75bn issuance boosted Latin America DCM issuance to $93.0bn in H1 2017, even as the US saw volumes decline across multiple DCM deal types.
Becton Dickinson – The healthcare giant had a busy May. It priced simultaneous ECM offerings (FM-CONV), each raising $2.5bn for a total of $5.0bn, and issued multiple IG loans, with the biggest worth $13.5bn.
US leveraged finance hit a new high – US total leveraged finance issuance reached a record high in H1 2017 with $979.9bn via 1,666 deals.*
*Please see the full definition within the Americas Quarterly Markets Review.
Asia Pacific Highlights
Asia Pacific IB revenue grew slightly to $7.4bn in H1 2017 from $7.3bn earned in H1 2016. Aligned with global trends, ECM revenue grew the most to $2.6bn in H1 this year, while DCM was the only product to see revenue decline year-on-year. However, Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) IB revenue reached $5.7bn in H1 2017, down 5% on H1 2016 ($6.0bn).
Mixed picture for M&A – M&A volume targeting Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) in H1 declined to $360.7bn this year. However, Japanese outbound M&A jumped 72% and China outbound M&A still reached the second-highest H1 on record despite capital restrictions.
IPOs the bright spot – While follow-on and convertible volume were both down year-on-year, Q2 IPO volume reached $18.5bn, a 44% increase year-on-year.
China pushed up international DCM volume – Chinese international DCM issuance totaled $113.6bn in H1 2017, more than double year-on-year, and pushed Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) volume to a new record high.
Syndicated loans fell – Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) syndicated loans volume dropped to $207.4bn in H1 2017, down 19% year-on-year and the lowest H1 level since 2012 ($185.6bn).
EMEA Highlights
EMEA IB revenue bounced back to $9.6bn in H1 2017, an increase of 15% from H2 2016 ($8.4bn), and 5% higher than H1 2016 ($9.1bn). However, EMEA IB revenue accounted for just 24.1% of global IB revenue—the lowest H1 share on record.
Only region to see M&A growth – EMEA was the only region to have seen an increase year-on-year in M&A volume, rising 22% to stand at $513.7bn—the highest H1 level since 2008 ($635.9bn).
Rights issues led ECM volume – EMEA ECM totaled $147.3bn, up 62% on H1 2016 ($91.1bn). The growth was driven by rights issues, which more than doubled year-on-year to $42.5bn.
Sector Focus: EMEA Financial Institutions – FIG teams have been kept busy by a continued focus on bank recapitalizations, and the top three EMEA ECM deals of H1 2017 were all bank rights issues.
UK bucked the downward DCM trend – EMEA IG DCM issuance totaled $223.5bn in Q2 2017, down 6% from Q2 2016. While most countries saw a decline in volume, the UK saw a 27% increase year-on-year.
Leveraged loans pushed up LevFin revenue – EMEA LevFin volume grew 28% year-on-year to $48.1bn in Q2 2017, while revenue was up 7% year-on-year, driven by a surge in leveraged loans (to $379m in Q2 2017).
For more information or a full copy of our Quarterly Reviews for H1 2017, please reach out to our teams below: