May 2017

Debt Capital Markets

Middle East bond issuance reached a record-high $95.5bn from 164 deals in 2016
All sectors saw volume increases in 2016, with SSA issuance up 447% year-on-year. Momentum has continued into 2017, with volume already more than 70% of full year SSA issuance in 2016, thanks to deals from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ($9.0bn) and Kuwait ($8.0bn)
2017 has also seen the first green bond from the region – National Bank of Abu Dhabi’s $587m issue, in March 2017

Loans

Middle East loan volume totaled $105.9bn from 138 deals in 2016, which marked the second most active year for loans (139 deals in 2015)
Oil and gas sector loan volume dropped year-on-year to $18.9bn in 2016, while the energy and finance industries saw increases of 154% and 60% respectively, over the period
Structured finance reached a record-high of $39.1bn last year, with project financing accounting for a 48% share
So far this year, a total of $11.1bn worth of sukuk debt has been issued in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

In the past decade, a total of $11.9bn has been raised from 98 IPOs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) – led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Israel
So far this year, seven companies have listed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, all on Nomu in its first month of operation. Subsequently, activity in Q1 2017 was the highest since Q1 2007 (also seven deals)
While an additional six companies have obtained approval to offer shares to the public, all eyes are on Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco)’s intention to float in 2018, on more than one exchange, in what could potentially be the world’s largest IPO on record

Middle East targeted M&A volume grew to a record $56.4bn in 2016, and was more than double the level seen in 2012 ($21.9bn). A total of 11 $1.0bn+ deals contributed to the record volume
Momentum has continued into 2017, with a YTD record of $28.3bn worth of announced deals in the region – driven by a $15.4bn bid for Mobileye by Intel, in what is the region’s largest cross-border deal on record
Israel has been the most targeted nation for M&A since 2012, with cross-border volume exceeding that of domestic deals

Data Source: Dealogic