Highlights from this week’s Thomson Reuters Investment Banking Scorecard:

6TH LARGEST IPO OF THE YEAR
In this week’s second largest ECM transaction Sands China, the Macau operations of US based Las Vegas Sands raised $2.5 billion on the Hong Kong stock exchange. It is the 6th largest IPO of the year and the second of its kind in a couple of months after Wynn Macau, a subsidiary of US based Wynn Resorts raised $1.9 billion in September.
Follow On activity is up 35% when compared to the same period last year with $528 billion and it also accounts for 75% of total ECM activity so far this year.

GLOBAL CORPORATE BOND ISSUANCE UP
The top two bonds issued this week are both investment grade corporate debt issues which are both above the $1 billion mark. UNEDIC and CDP Financials with $5.9 billion and $4.9 billion.
Global corporate bonds reached $2.4 trillion so far this year up 11% when compared to the same period last year. Corporate bond issuance also makes up 46% of total bond activity this year.

M&A HITS 5 MONTH-HIGH
Global announced M&A in November totaled $234 billion and marks the second busiest monthly level of activity of the last twelve months after June 2009 ($275 billion).
There were ten transactions in excess of $1 billion announced this week, including the $1.7 billion takeover of UK based JPMorgan Cazenove by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Highlights from the Thomson Reuters Investment Banking scorecard:

QATAR PRICES BIGGEST MIDDLE EASTERN BOND ON RECORD
This week’s $7 billion offering from the State of Qatar marked the largest bond offering from a Middle Eastern issuer on record and the second multibillion dollar offering from Qatar this year.  For year-to-date 2009, debt capital markets activity from Middle Eastern issuers totals $38.6 billion, a 120% increase over last year at this time.
The offering, which was led by Barclays, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Qatar National Bank, bested the previous Middle Eastern record, a $3.2 billion offering from UAE-based real estate developer, Nakheel Co PJSC.

TECH DEALS DOMINATE RECORD TAIWAN M&A ACTIVITY
Taiwan’s Innolux Display Corp agreed to merge with Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp, a manufacturer of LCD TV panels in a merger valued at $13.1 billion, including debt.  The deal ranks as the largest merger in Taiwan’s history.
M&A activity in Taiwan totals $26.1 billion for year-to-date 2009, nearly five times last year’s total and the largest annual period for M&A activity in Taiwan on record.  High technology mergers account for just over 60% of activity in Taiwan this year, while financials account for $6.1 billion or 23%.

UNITYMEDIA IN BIGGEST BUYOUT EXIT THIS YEAR
Germany’s Unitymedia GmBH, a provider of cable television and internet services was acquired by Englewood, Colorado-based Liberty Global Inc in a deal valued at $5.2 billion.  A portfolio company of BC Partners and Apollo Management LP, the sale marks the biggest M&A exit for a buyout consortium this year.
Worldwide M&A activity for buyout-backed companies totals $75.0 billion for year-to-date 2009, a 58% decrease from last year at this time when activity totaled $177.5 billion.

Highlights from this week’s Thomson Reuters Investment Banking scorecard:

ASIA PACIFIC IPOs UP 65%
Malaysian telecommunications provider, Maxis Bhd, raised $3.3 billion in an initial public offering this week, the biggest IPO from a Malaysian issuer on record.  Asia Pacific offerings account for 59% of global IPO activity this year and total $49.2 billion for year-to-date 2009, a 65% increase over last year at this time.
In Asia, China International Capital Co, CITIC and UBS account for nearly 35% of overall IPO activity, by proceeds, this year while Morgan Stanley has lead managed the most offerings in the region, with 14.

AUSTRALIAN M&A TOTALS $130.9 BILLION
Australian target M&A activity totals $130.9 billion for year-to-date 2009, a 58% increase over the year ago period.  Deal activity in the materials, financial and industrial sectors accounts for nearly 80% of overall activity.
A bid for Melbourne-based Transurban Group, an operator and developer of electronic tolling systems by an investor group comprised of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan for $8.9 billion topped the list of biggest deals this week.

HIGH TECH CORPORATE DEBT UP 34%
This week’s $4.9 billion bond offering from Cisco Systems brings year-to-date corporate debt volume in the high tech sector to $56.9 billion, a 34% increase over last year.  Ranking as the largest US high tech bond for year-to-date 2009, it also marks Cisco’s second debt offering this year.
As the global credit markets have rebounded this year, a number of high technology names have stepped into the bond market with multi-billion offerings including Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, Microsoft and IBM.

British Airways and Iberia finally agree to a merger that will create the world’s no. 3 airline by revenue. The all-stock deal, giving BA shareholders about 55 percent of the combined company, is just the (airline) ticket for the columnists: it’s cleared for takeoff after a long time on the runway and so on.

Alistair Osborne in the Telegraph says on “pure current valuation grounds, it’s not an amazing deal for BA. But strategically it presses most buttons – and there’s plenty of extra value to come from the mooted €400m of synergies, which are bound to prove an undershoot.”

Nils Pratley in the Guardian says the deal is not a glorious victory for BA, which still faces big challenges in both short- and long-haul business. While the deal is “significant, BA’s more important proposed deal is probably the attempt to secure anti-trust immunity for an alliance with American Airlines.”

David Wighton in the Times cautions that “stapling together two loss-making airlines does not guarantee that both will improve” and wonders if it will lead to improved service at Iberia or worse service at BA.

Meanwhile, FT Alphaville breaks down the key terms of the memorandum of understanding.

For more coverage on this, and the rest of the latest deals news from Reuters, click here.

In the newspapers:

* Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) has more than 700 million pounds ($1.2 billion) of debts and investments tied up in Kenmore Property, the London Times says.

* Standard Chartered (STAN.L) (2888.HK) expects to list on the Indian bourse by April next year depending on market conditions, the Economic Times reported, citing the bank’s group chief executive. Reuters story here.

* Germany’s Allianz SE (ALVG.DE) and MAN SE (MANG.DE) will pay off the remaining debt owed by their jointly owned printing press subsidiary, manroland, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Reuters story here.

* The Interac Association, which processes most debit-card transactions in Canada, has hired JPMorgan to help it restructure into a for-profit company, should regulators allow, the Globe and Mail newspaper says.

A large Ernst & Young (E&Y) survey finds plenty of appetite for acquisitions, but also finds many companies feel constrained in their dealmaking, and one in 25 is simply “focused on survival”:

“Most companies believe the time is ripe for deals, but only one third have the strength and agility to snap up “once-in-a-lifetime” acquisition opportunities in the wake of the credit crisis, according to a global survey.

Ernst & Young, which quizzed 490 top executives from “major industry players” across 32 countries, said 33 percent were likely or highly likely to buy firms in the next 12 months, with 25 percent expecting to bid in the next six months. There were no data on the size of possible targets.”

For the full Reuters story, click here.

A couple of nuggets from transport-land. Britain’s National Express unveils a 360 million pound rights issue and buyout giant TPG emerges as a potential investor alongside American Airlines in Japan Airlines.

For the latest deals news from Reuters, click here.

And in the papers:

* Fubon Financial, parent of Taiwan’s No.2 insurer, and China’s State Development & Investment Corp will set up a 3 billion Chinese yuan ($440 million) private equity fund, the Commercial Times reported, citing a Fubon executive. Reuters story here.

* Indian software services firm Patni Computer Systems (PTNI.BO) has shortlisted four firms for a multi-million dollar acquisition, the Mint newspaper reported, quoting Chief Executive Officer Jeya Kumar.

* China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, vying to buy Ford Motor’s (F.N) loss-making Volvo unit, has developed a turnaround plan under which it hopes to double Volvo’s sales to near 1 million vehicles a year, the WSJ says.

* China is drafting guidelines encouraging further consolidation of its steel industry, the China Securities Journal says.

* United Technologies (UTX.N) is nearing a purchase of General Electric Co’s (GE.N) fire alarm and security systems unit for at least $1.8 billion, and a deal could be announced as early as Thursday, Bloomberg reports.

Richard Bove at Rochdale says JPMorgan is in pole position to benefit from a surge in dealmaking:

“A core theme in our banking thesis is that “Merger Monday” is back.

“There could be a surge in merger and acquisition (M&A) activity that may last two to three years. The dollar is weakening, the yield on junk bonds has plummeted, and the stock market is quite strong. The money is available. No company is better positioned to take advantage of this development than J.P. Morgan.”

Bove says JPM has tens of thousands of middle-market clients as well as long-standing relationships with the biggest U.S. companies, such as Mars and Black and Decker.

“In the third quarter, revenues from advisory activity were $384 million. I would expect the quarterly revenue from this source to reach $600 million by yearend 2010 and $800 million quarterly by yearend 2011. If this assumption proves to be correct, the advisory business could add $0.15 per share to 2010 earnings per share and another $0.13 per share to 2011.”

Not only that, he says but the bank can also rake in fees lending to buyers, divesting businesses, and helping newly wealthy sellers invest their proceeds.

Bove’s JP-focused bullishness chimes with wider M&A optimism in recent notes from Deutsche, UBS and SocGen.

Chocolate and macaroni cheese aside, a trio of tech deals to mull over:

* Google Inc will buy AdMob, one of the largest mobile advertising networks, for $750 million, widening its bet that cell phone advertising could become the Internet’s next-big money maker.

* Electronic Arts Inc acquires Playfish for $275 million as the maker of the “Madden NFL” series expands in the growing social gaming sector.

* And Cisco Systems Inc says shareholders holding just 9.37 percent of shares in Tandberg have accepted its $3 billion tender offer for the Norwegian videoconferencing company.

For more on these stories and the rest of the latest deal-related news from Reuters, click here.

And in the newspapers:

* London-headquartered private equity firm BC Partners will buy ATI Enterprises, a Texas-based operator of 24 educational campuses, for about $500 million, the Financial Times says.

* Turkey’s media group Dogan Yayin (DYHOL.IS), which is in a dispute over a record tax fine, denies a media report that five of its papers were being sold to Germany’s Axel Springer (SPRGn.DE).

* Morgan Stanley (MS.N) is close to investing $200-$300 million in Asian Infrastructure Pte,  India’s Economic Times says, citing unnamed sources.

* Magna’s (MGa.TO) co-chief executive told a German paper the Austro-Canadian company was not looking to team up with another auto maker after failing to clinch Opel, and will instead focus on its supply business. Reuters story here.

Derisory (di-ry-ser-i) adj. deserving derision; too insignificant for serious consideration.

In lambasting a formal takeover offer from Kraft as “derisory”, Cadbury Chairman Roger Carr has both ratcheted up the rhetoric (an earlier letter to Kraft did not use this term) and struck a tone familiar to connoisseurs of bid battles. Carr, of course, is a veteran dealmaker himself.

UK targets have often found rejecting an approach as “derisory” is just scornful enough, without incurring the wrath of the Takeover Panel. Other approaches to have met with the same brushoff include Macquarie’s 2005 hostile bid for the London Stock Exchange and BHP Billiton’s epic tilt at rival miner Rio Tinto.  Over in Ireland, Aer Lingus has decried the advances of budget archrival Ryanair in exactly the same manner.

Still, a bit of bluster doesn’t mean a deal can’t eventually be done at whatever the opposite of a “derisory” price is. WPP, for example, eventually won over market researcher TNS, and brewer Scottish & Newcastle finally melted into the arms of Heineken and Carlsberg.

Kraft’s offer is actually worth less than an initial informal approach because its stock has fallen in the meantime. Monday’s move certainly hasn’t impressed Reuters columnist Neil Collins, who says Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld has “pressed the snooze button”.

In Monday’s DealZone Daily: French insurer AXA sets its sights on Asian growth. Meanwhile, General Electric Co. and Comcast Corp agree on a valuation of around $30 billion for a joint venture between NBC Universal and Comcast, ironing out what has been a key obstacle in talks so far, a source familiar with the matter says.

For more on these stories, and the rest of the latest deals news from Reuters, click here.

And in the newspapers:

* Indian energy giant Reliance Industries (RELI.BO) is close to a nearly $6 billion overseas acquisition and the likely target is the assets of petrochemicals firm LyondellBasell, the Economic Times reported, citing an unidentified banker.

* NYSE Euronext (NYX.N)(NYX.PA), parent of the New York Stock Exchange, has expressed strong interest in a China listing as the country prepares to allow for such listings, Hong Kong media reported. Reuters story here.

* Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N). is preparing to pump at least $1 billion more into Clearwire Corp., the Wall Street Journal reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.

* Private equity fund CVC has pulled out of talks with General Electric (GE.N) about a possible joint bid for the power and transmission unit of France’s Areva (CEPFi.PA), a French financial news service reported on Sunday. Reuters story here.

* Tobacco giant Reynolds American Inc (RAI.N) is in advanced talks to buy a Swedish maker of products that help people stop smoking, the Wall Street Journal reported.