All-Time Record for US Non-FIG Corporate Debt
This week’s multi-billion dollar corporate bond offerings from Microsoft, CVS Caremark and Johnson & Johnson pushed the volume of US non-financial investment grade corporate debt to $438.0 billion for year-to-date 2013, a 6% increase compared to a year ago and the strongest year-to-date period on record. Microsoft’s multi-currency offering brings the company’s corporate bond issuance this year to $10.6 billion, ranking fifth behind Verizon, Apple, AT&T and IBM for US non-FIG debt issuers this year.
Telecommunications and technology offerings account for 28% of US non-FIG corporate debt issuance this year, registering increases of 300% and 69%, respectively. JP Morgan leads US non-FIG debt underwriting with 12.9% market share, a decline of 3.2 market share points compared to year-to-date 2012.
Real Estate Pushes Australia M&A Up 17%
Westfield Retail Trust’s $15.9 billion offer for the Australian and New Zealand businesses of Westfield Group ranks as the largest M&A transaction in Australia this year and brings Australia target deal making to $71.9 billion, a 17% increase compared to a year ago. Real estate, industrials, energy & power and materials deals account for 79% of Australia target M&A this year, up from 73% last year at this time. Cross-border deal making involving Australian targets totals $26.2 billion so far this year, down 23% compared to last year and accounts for 37% of overall Australia M&A, down from 56% last year.
UBS, which advised Westfield Retail Trust along with Morgan Stanley, tops the list of Australia M&A advisors this year, up from fifth place a year ago. Macquarie, the top advisor for year-to-date 2012 has fallen to sixth place this year.
European ECM Activity Up 75% From 2012
The volume of equity capital markets activity from European companies reached $211.9 billion this week, an increase of 75% compared to a year ago and the strongest year-to-date period since 2009 ($226.2 billion). Issuers from the United Kingdom, France and Germany account for 47% of year-to-date ECM activity up from 43% last year at this time. Triple-digit percentage increases in the retail, industrials, media and real estate sectors bolsters activity, while healthcare and consumer staples are the only sectors to register year-over-year declines.
Goldman Sachs leads the ranking of European ECM bookrunners with 10.2% market share, up 0.6 market share points from last year. JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley round out the top three, while last year’s top bookrunner, Deutsche Bank, falls to fifth.