Financial M&A Falls 25% from 2011 Levels

Leucadia National Corp's $2.6 billion bid for a remaining 71% stake in Jefferies Group brings the volume of worldwide M&A activity in the financial sector to $221.2 billion, a decline of 25% compared to a year ago at this time. The Jefferies bid ranks as the second largest banking and brokerage M&A transaction in the United States this year. Deal making in the banking and brokerage sectors totals $98.9 billion for year-to-date 2012, an increase of 2% compared to last year.

Financial M&A activity in the United States totals $53.7 billion for year-to-date 2012, a decline of 55% compared to 2011. The United States, Spain, the United Kingdom and Canada account for 48% of M&A activity in the sector this year. Goldman Sachs tops the ranking of financial advisors in the sector, up from sixth place last year at this time.

UK Target M&A Down 6%: Consumer Staples Up 46%

AG Barr's reverse takeover of UK soft drink producer, Britvic PLC, valued at $2.2 billion, pushed the volume of UK target M&A activity to $112.0 billion for year-to-date 2012, a decline of 6% compared to the year ago period. Consumer Staples M&A in the United Kingdom totals $6.9 billion, a 46% increase compared to year-to-date 2011. Deal making in the Energy & Power, Real Estate and High Technology sectors accounts for 50% of this year's merger activity in the UK, compared to 44% a year ago.

Rothschild, an advisor to AG Barr, holds the top spot for UK target M&A financial advisory this year with $33.7 billion from an industry-leading 49 deals. The firm ranked seventh last year at this time. Morgan Stanley and Barclays round out the top three, up from 15th and sixth, respectively.

Global Investment Grade Debt Up 11%

The volume of global investment grade corporate debt totals $2.4 billion for year-to-date 2012, an increase of 11% compared to last year at this time, and the strongest year-to-date period for investment grade issuance since 2007. US dollar denominated investment grade debt issuance accounts for 44% of year-to-date volume, up from 38% during year-to-date 2011. Of the top five currency denominations, US Dollar and British Pound have seen double digit increases compared to last year at this time, while Euro, Chinese Yuan and Japanese Yen issuance has fallen an average of 7%.

JP Morgan retains the top spot for global investment grade corporate debt underwriting, with 7.8% market share, an increase of 1.4 market share points compared to year-to-date 2011.

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Thomson Reuters
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