UBS sees metals, mining M&A but IPOs stall

March 12 - Reuters (U.K.) - The outlook for mergers and acquisitions in the metals and mining industry is strong as emerging market players bulk up and competition for the earth's dwindling resources intensifies, a top sector banker said on Wednesday.

"On the M&A front, generally speaking, the credit situation looks pretty awful but there seems to be money for mining companies and partly that is because commodities prices are high and there is growing acceptance of the super-cycle theory," UBS's joint global head of metals and mining Paul Knight said.

Miners could also borrow more easily than other companies because they had high earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization and low net debt, Knight told the Reuters global mining summit in London. Read More.

Mergers soar to record despite credit crisis

December 20 - Telegraph.co.uk - The value of mergers and acquisitions announced globally has hit a new record, despite the US sub-prime mortgage crisis and the meltdown of the credit markets in the latter part of the year.

Companies have announced takeover bids worth nearly $4,400bn (£2,200bn) in 2007, up more than a fifth on last year's total, according to preliminary figures from Thomson, the data provider. After a record-breaking first half, the value of M&A has slumped 26pc since July as private equity firms and other companies have found difficulty raising funds. Investment bankers in the US suffered a particularly slow second half, with M&A involving US companies slumping 46pc. European activity fell 17pc. Read More.

Climate change inspires thoughts of M&A

November 28 - Financial News (U.S.) - Climate-change concerns may set off a wave of mergers as a survey found that 20% of companies have considered buying a business to cope with the greater focus on alternative energy.

UK law firm Clifford Chance surveyed over 100 top executives at mostly multinational companies based in the US, UK, Europe and Asia about climate change issues.

The survey found that 44% of the Asian companies had considered buying another business, in areas like wind farms. About 19% of companies in the US and UK had made similar plans, along with about 13% of the companies in mainland Europe. Read More.

Investors switch from megadeals to mid-market

November 27 - Financial News - Investors in private equity funds are recruiting specialists to target mid-market dealmakers. Sentiment is swinging away from mega-buyout firms on fears the golden era of cheap debt and rising company profits is over.

Bregal Investments, a company that acts as a Swiss family office for the Dutch Brenninkmeijer family, billionaire owners of European clothing retailer C&A Group, has hired Alex Murray from boutique advisory firm Hawkpoint to help it co-invest in the mid-market. The boutique helped arrange Kohlberg Kravis Roberts’ $3.8bn (€2.6bn) takeover of Laureate Education.

The hiring of Murray comes after US-based investment office Private Advisors hired Jens Bisgaard-Frantzen from the mid-market private equity investment team at ATP, Denmark’s largest pension fund. Read More.

US dominates UK cross border M&A, as global levels show surprising resilience to credit crunch

November 14 - Business Credit Management (U.K.) - Despite the United States sub-prime loan crisis, US firms continues to acquire more UK companies than any other nation as UK M&A activity defied expectations with a robust third quarter, according to new research from Grant Thornton Corporate Finance.

In Q3 2007, both foreign acquisitions in the UK and UK acquisitions abroad were of greater value than during the same period last year, with UK companies reporting their highest third quarter offshore M&A spend since 2000. Meanwhile domestic M&A also held firm, dropping just 4% in volume on the same period in 2007 despite fears of a significant downturn due to the present perceived illiquidity in the market.

David Brooks, Head of M&A at Grant Thornton Corporate Finance, said the US was still the central driver of UK cross border M&A, with £26.7 billion spent by UK companies on US businesses and an almost equal amount spent in the opposite direction during the first nine months of 2007. Read More.

M&A Outlook 2008: Cross-border bonanza

November 7 - Dealscape Blog (The Deal) - Mohr offered some color on trends. This year, she said, really represents the high-water mark of where M&A is globally. Overseas is where the growth lies. In 2007 to date, she said 45% of global M&A has been cross-border. It should be somewhere in the high 40% range by the end of the year. While Europe and U.S. have historically driven this, growth in the rest of the world has almost doubled over recent years. In the second quarter of 2007, there was $800 billion in global M&A volume. In the third quarter, it dropped to $400 million. The fallout largely came from the U.S. and Europe, she said, while volume from the rest of the world was essentially flat. The role of emerging markets and their companion sovereign wealth funds are driving a lot of this. Sectors where activity is hot include: financial services, energy and power, and industrials.

For buyers looking to the U.S., the current climate may make M&A prospects more attractive. Because of the credit crunch and the depressed U.S. dollar, cross-border strategics may see this as a good time to invest in the U.S., Hartman said. Read More.

International middle-market deals keep pace

October 25 - Dealscape Blog (The Deal) - International middle-market dealflow was very active Thursday amidst the backdrop of megabillion dollar international acquisitions that included Standard Life plc's $17.8 billion bid for Resolution plc, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd.'s $5.5 billion stake in Standard Bank of South Africs Ltd., and Rexel SA's $4.3 billion cash offer for Hagemeyer NV.

Aside for the aforementioned acquisitions, billion-dollar deals have been few and far between lately. So, the rush of three billion-dollar deals in one day hearkens back to the heady dealmaking days prior to the credit crunch when financing was plentiful and executives weren't spooked by the word recession. Despite Thursday's uptick in billion-dollar deals, middle-market acquisitions — especially foreign ones — kept pace. In general, over the last two months, middle-market M&A has been more plentiful than the billion-dollar deal. Read More.

Buyers to ‘benefit’ from M&A market

October 20 - Business in Wales (U.K.) - The mergers and acquisitions market in Wales remains buoyant – despite the crisis that hit the money markets last month, an analyst said yesterday.

A study by accountants and business advisers PKF in association with Deal Drivers UK showed a slowing outside Wales after a ramping up of deals in the last quarter.

The report highlighted a “frantic pace” of deals over the past few years with the last quarter of 2006 being the high point with a record £70.9bn in deal value. Read More.

Giants move in on smaller buyouts

rOctober 10 - Telegraph (U.K.) - When Jeff Montgomery's private equity house GMT Communications cast its eye over a small Latvian telecommunications firm recently, it found itself in unlikely company.

The deal was small – requiring around €150m of equity – but among the players was Blackstone, the US private equity giant which eventually won the auction.

Go back a few months and it would have been remarkable to see a major player chasing such a deal – Blackstone has become famous for pursuing buyouts in the many billions of dollars – but, in today's climate, it is the mid-caps that are attracting all the attention. Read More.

Smaller Oil Companies Fuel UK's North Sea Revival

September 25 - RigZone (WSJ) - Tax changes and investment incentives are transforming the landscape of Britain's North Sea -- reinvigorating Europe's second-largest oil basin after Norway and raising hopes that its long decline may slow.

The revival has taken many in the industry by surprise, because when the government in 2005 announced it would raise taxes on oil production, big international companies warned the move would discourage investments.

Two years later, the biggest oil companies are reducing their presence, but a clutch of smaller companies have moved in to fill the void. The shift in ownership suggests the government may be able to capture more revenue from high oil prices while limiting risks to its energy security needs. Read More.

Dutch finance ministry publishes proposals aimed at sharpening M&A laws - UPDATE

September 14 - Forbes - The Dutch Finance Ministry has published proposals to sharpen regulations around company takeovers to provide greater transparency about the bonuses paid to company directors and the consequences for employees, while also implementing stricter time frames.

The legislation will also serve to implement the Dutch government's response to the EU Takeover Directive, obligating a company that takes a 30 pct stake or more of another company to make a mandatory offer for all of the company's outstanding shares at a fair price.

Greater supervisory powers will also be granted to the Dutch stock markets regulator AFM, which will in future be required to assess a company's offer documentation. Read More.

European mid-market M&A expected to increase in next six months - KPMG survey

February 26 - Forbes.com - European mid-market mergers and acquisitions are expected to increase in coming months, although the private equity sector is less confident than the corporate sector, a survey said.

Research by KPMG International showed that 58 pct of private equity respondents expect M&A to grow in the next six months, compared with 67 pct of the corporate sector respondents. Read More.