DealZone

Here are the highlights from this week’s Thomson Reuters Investment Banking Scorecard:

- US M&A Accounts for the Majority of Weekly Worldwide Activity

US M&A activity was worth $13.9 billion for the week, bolstered by a flurry of deal announcements ahead of Labor Day in oil and gas, media and pharmaceuticals.  Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch each advised on just over $9 billion in deals this week.

- Government Program Lifts Weekly US ABS Volume to $16.4 billion

The weekly volume of US asset-backed securities totaled $16.4 billion, powered by $14.2 billion of offerings eligible for Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF).  Multi-billion dollar securitizations from the likes of Citigroup, Bank of America and Ford brought year-to-date ABS volume to $110.5 billion, a 28% decrease from last year at this time when issuance totaled $154.1 billion.

- Private Equity Bids for UK-based National Express Group

An investor group led by CVC Capital Partners announced a $1.3 billion bid for UK transport company National Express, bringing year-to-date UK private equity-backed M&A activity to $6.4 billion, a 73% decline from last year.

- Spanish Debt Capital Markets Activity up 60 percent

A $1.7 billion debt offering from Madrid-based Banco Espanol de Credito (Banesto) ranked as the largest non-agency bond offering in Europe this week. It pushed Spanish debt capital markets activity so far this year to $128.1 billion, a 60% increase over the year-ago figure. 

Highlights and low points — syndicated loans, for example, at their lowest since 1993 — from the July Thomson Reuters Investment Banking Snapshots:

DEBT CAPITAL MARKETS

Asia Pacific & Chinese Issuers Reached New Corporate Bonds High in July – Asia Pacific issuers raised a record US$41bn in July, up 11% from June 2009 (US$43.3bn) and double the level of July 2008 (US$24.1bn). Chinese issuers accounted for 49% of the regions’ activity with a record US$23.4bn raised, up 3% from June 2009 (US$22.7bn) and up 218% from July 2008 (7.4bn). Financials (US$16.2bn, 70%) and Materials (US$4.7bn, 20%) were the main sectors driving the surge in China.

European High Yield Bonds Hit 2 Year High – Global issuance of high yield bonds reached US$12.3bn in July 2009, down 27% from June 2009 (US$16.7bn) but up 270% from July 2008 (US$3.3bn). This marked the third highest level of activity for a month of July on record and the best since 2003 (US$18.6bn). European issuers accounted for 44% of total with US$5.4bn raised, the highest monthly volume since June 2007. European activity consisted of two issues, Wind Acquisition Finance (US$3.7bn), the second largest HY bond of the year globally and the second largest European bond ever issued after NXP Semiconductor (US$5.95bn, 2006) and Fiat Finance & Trade ($US$1.8bn).

Here are some highlights from this week’s Thomson Reuters Investment Banking Scorecard.

Medarex boosts biotechnology M&A to $5.3 billion

Bristol-Myers Squibb’s $1.9 billion acquisition of Medarex lifted the volume of biotechnology M&A to $5.3 billion for year-to-date 2009, a 90% decrease from 2008 levels. Last year’s total was bolstered by the $46.7 billion acquisition of Genentech by Roche Holding. Excluding the Genentech transaction, biotechnology M&A volume is down 22% over 2008 levels. By number of deals, mergers in the sector are up 15% over last year.

With their advisory roles on the Medarex transaction, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs top the ranking of biotechnology advisors for year-to-date 2009.

The team behind cash shell company Germany1 is preparing to list its next special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in October after Thursday’s 532 million euros deal with AEG Power.

A SPAC is a shell company set up by people with a proven track record in making acquisitions. They offer takeover targets a way to become public companies without having to undertake an initial public offering.

In this case, Germany1′s acquisition makes power system firm AEG a public company through a so-called ”back door” listing. 

If it’s Friday it must be Thomson Reuters Investment Banking Scorecard day. There’s a slogan for you. Anyway, here are the highlights:

“Industrial Sector ECM Shows Increase Over Last Year

Bolstered by this week’s follow-on offering from Japanese airline services provider All Nippon Airways for $1.5 billion, total equity capital markets activity across the industrials sector reached  $26.5 billion, a 2% increase from the same period last year when volume was $25.9 billion.

Other large equity offerings this week came from Asian issuers including $5.5 billion from Japan’s Mizuho Financial and $1.5 billion from India’s Sterlite Industries, bringing weekly volume for the region to $9.8 billion, the second biggest week this year.

*This post was updated after the bond priced*

British Airways unveiled a $1 billion fundraising aimed at securing its future earlier on Friday, including $540 million in bank loans that had been earmarked for its pension funds as a safety net against the airline going bust.

The fundraising also included a 350 million pound ($570.5 million) convertible bond, which was over 7 times covered, pointing to healthy investor appetite.

Convertible bonds have become an increasingly important source of finance for firms in Europe. The instrument allows companies to raise capital paying less interest than standard bonds, while avoiding an immediate dilution of earnings per share because investors look to gains in share prices over a medium term.

This week’s Thomson Reuters “Investment Banking Scorecard” is out. Here are the highlights:

“BHP/Rio Tinto Deal Changes Global M&A Landscape

“The announcement of a joint venture between Australia’s BHP Billiton and domestic rival Rio Tinto last Friday ranks as the second largest worldwide deal this year and may prove fruitful for some investment banks.  Advisors Gresham Partners, Lazard, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs will advise on the deal, translating to valuable deal activity in a year where M&A volume is down 43%.  Earlier this year, Chinalco announced a multi-continent $19 billion investment in Rio Tinto, which was withdrawn as a result of the new mega-deal.  Of the seven banks on the initial Chinalco deal, only Morgan Stanley, ranked first for worldwide M&A year-to-date, secured a role on the BHP deal.

“Real Estate Equity Capital Markets Activity up 85%

“Equity capital markets offerings from real estate issuers have soared so far in 2009, while activity in the M&A, DCM, and loans segments remains down from 2008.  Real estate ECM volume is up 85% over last year at $36.5 billion.  Activity in the Americas accounts for 44.7% of the total volume across the sector, followed by Asia (including Japan) with 36.6% and Europe with 18.4% share of the market.