Time to take stock
THE REVIVAL IN mergers and acquisitions activity is reinjecting vigour into equity capital markets. M&A-related transactions in the third quarter accounted for as much as 27% of ECM volume, compared with just 6.7% over the same period last year. Acquisition-related deals added $13.7 billion to ECM volumes in Europe in the third quarter, and ECM bankers expect more to come.
Some of the biggest deals this year have been M&A related, such as France Telecom’s €3 billion rights issue in September and ABN Amro’s $3.3 billion rights issue in March.
Reasons to be cheerful
ECM bankers have good reason to be optimistic that there’s more to come. There are solid long-term drivers behind much of the M&A boom. “A big part of the current M&A wave in Europe is the...
