Reuters-Dubai

Mergers and acquisitions with Middle Eastern involvement last quarter hit their highest level since early 2008, boosted by

outbound investment by wealthy Gulf funds and companies, according to a Thomson Reuters study.
The value of announced M&A deals with any Middle Eastern involvement jumped to $22.7bn in the fourth quarter of 2014, more than

double the value in the previous quarter and the highest total since the first quarter of 2008.
The calculation includes a $9.1bn offer for Songbird Estates, owner of London’s Canary Wharf financial district, by the Qatar

Investment Authority and US investor Brookfield Property Partners. That deal has not so far been completed and some major

shareholders in Songbird are still evaluating the offer.
The data suggested signs of a US economic recovery encouraged Gulf investors to become more active last year. For 2014 as a

whole, M&A with Middle Eastern involvement climbed 23% to $50.3bn, the highest total since 2010.
Outbound M&A surged 74% to $26.0bn, the highest annual total since 2009. Qatar’s overseas acquisitions accounted for 65% of all

Middle Eastern outbound M&A, while acquisitions by UAE companies provided 15% and Saudi Arabian firms, 9%.
However, acquisitions into and within the Middle East remained sluggish, reflecting political uncertainties, legal and cultural

barriers to takeovers, and, towards the end of the year, the plunge of oil prices.
M&A that originated and occurred inside the region fell 12% to $14.0bn during 2014, while inbound M&A that originated outside the

Middle East shrank 30% to $4.2bn.
Middle Eastern equity and equity-related issuance totalled $11.4bn last year, a 173% leap that was largely due to the $6bn

initial public offer of Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank, the biggest IPO ever conducted in the Arab world.
Debt sales were curbed by instability in emerging markets and the approach of US interest rate hikes; Middle Eastern bond

issuance in 2014 decreased 6% to $37.0bn.
Investment banking fees ticked up during the last quarter but for 2014 as a whole, they fell 3% to $751.7mn. Equity capital

markets underwriting fees soared but fees from debt capital markets and syndicated lending slumped; fees from completed M&A deals

totalled $159.2mn, down 5%.
HSBC earned the most investment banking fees in the Middle East during 2014, a total of $56.9mn. Lazard topped the Middle Eastern

completed M&A fee table, while HSBC was first in the ECM and DCM rankings. Mizuho Financial Group took top spot in Middle Eastern

loan fees.