Qatar ‘most acquisitive’ in Mideast in Q1

The Canary Wharf business, financial and shopping district is seen beyond the River Thames in London. The largest deal with Middle Eastern M&A involvement during Q1 of 2015 was the $1.9bn offer for the remaining stake in Canary Wharf Group by Stork Holdings, jointly owned by Qatar Investment Authority and Brookfield Property Partners, according to Thomson Reuters.

By Santhosh V Perumal/Business ReporterQatar was found to be the most acquisitive nation in the Middle East with it accounting for 48% of the Middle Eastern outbound merger and acquisition (M&A) activity during the first quarter (Q1) of this year, according to Thomson Reuters, a leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals.“The largest deal with Middle Eastern M&A involvement during Q1 of 2015 was the $1.9bn offer for the remaining stake in Canary Wharf Group by Stork Holdings, jointly owned by Qatar Investment Authority and Brookfield Property Partners,” Thomson Reuters said in its quarterly investment banking analysis for the Middle East region.Finding that M&A were active during Q1 in the Middle East region, it said the outbound M&A drove activity, up 161% from the same period in 2014 to reach $4bn, the highest first quarter total since 2011.The acquisitions by the UAE and Saudi Arabian companies accounted for 27% and 14% respectively of the Middle Eastern outbound M&A, it said, adding industrials was the most active sector, accounting for 33% of the Middle Eastern involvement M&A.The value of M&A deals with any Middle Eastern involvement more than doubled year-on-year to $9.5bn during Q1.Fees from completed M&A transactions totalled $73.8mn, a 13% increase from last year and the best annual start since 2009, Thomson Reuters said in quarterly investment banking analysis for the Middle East region.It said the M&A fees accounted for 41% of the overall Q1 Middle Eastern investment banking fee pool.The Middle Eastern investment banking fees reached $182mn during Q1 of 2015, 5% more than the value recorded during the previous quarter and a 20% increase from the same period in 2014.Citi earned the most investment banking fees in the Middle East during the first quarter of 2015, a total of $22.5mn for a 12.3% share of the total fee pool. Citi topped the Middle Eastern completed M&A fee league table, while Deutsche Bank was first for ECM underwriting and Emirates NBD was first in the debt capital market underwriting fee rankings.Banque Saudi Fransi took the top spot in the Middle Eastern syndicated loans fee ranking.The report also highlighted that Middle Eastern equity and equity-related issuance totalled $2.5bn during the first three months of 2015, 59% less than the value recorded during the previous quarter.“Initial public offerings raised $224.6mn and accounted for 9% of activity in the region,” said Nadim Najjar, managing director, Middle East and North Africa, Thomson Reuters.The region’s debt capital market also witnessed hectic activity with Middle Eastern debt issuance reaching $6.5bn during Q1 of 2015, 62% more than that raised during the previous quarter.Compared to the first quarter of 2014, bond issuance decreased 15% and marked the lowest first quarter total since 2011, the report said.“The UAE was the most active nation accounting for 78% of activity, followed by Saudi Arabia with 16%,” Najjar said.International Islamic debt issuance declined 13% year-on-year to reach $8.9bn, it said, adding HSBC took the top spot in the Middle Eastern bond ranking during the first quarter of 2015 with a 13% share of the market.