October has been—according to IFLR1000's selection of deal announcements—a month full of high value deals across M&A and the capital markets in a range of sectors. The entertainment and media industry enjoyed the largest deal of the year so far, while the energy and transport sectors witnessed landmark transactions.
AT&T reached an agreement with Time Warner to acquire the US media conglomerate for $85 billion in the largest proposed deal this year, despite President-elect Donald Trump's campaign vows to block the deal; and Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu) issued a $3.9 billion (¥416 billion) IPO—Japan’s largest IPO this year and the biggest global rail IPO since 1993.
Compared to previous months, deal values have swelled among the top bracket of firms in the global legal market. The $85 billion media acquisition of Time Warner has a big role to play in that trend as firms such as Sullivan & Cromwell, Weil Gotshal & Manges, and Cravath Swaine & Moore feature prominently on the value table, while stability has been the name of the game in deal volume as Kirkland & Ellis leads the way with 21 deals in October—its fourth month in a row at the top.
Elsewhere Abu Dhabi state-controlled energy company Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) is developing UAE's first nuclear power plant, Barakah, in Abu Dhabi with Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO); and China Merchants Securities raised $1.5 billion in a HKSE IPO that continues the long-term trend of PRC securities firms listing in Hong Kong. Also German utility RWE's green energy business, Innogy, has raised €5 billion through its IPO in Frankfurt, making it the biggest debut on the stock exchange since 2000, and the third largest in the country's history; and Avolon Holdings $10 billion acquisition of the aircraft leasing unit of US-based rival CIT Group makes it the third-largest aircraft leasing company in the world.
If you have any public deal announcements you would like us to take into account for our reports please send them to - amajeed@iflr1000.com
The EMEA launch of IFLR1000 Deal Data—a fully searchable database whose BETA version went live in May—is almost upon us. This database of significant deal records from over 120 countries will launch this November and will include searchable and filterable data on the most significant legal transactions from around the globe, and all of our featured monthly deals will be included along with many more garnered from the IFLR1000's own research, press releases and other deal announcements.
Below you can access our top picks for October 2016 linked to their record in the new deals database.
Adam Majeed - Asia-Editor
Mergermarket table 1 - Law firms by global M&A deal value
Mergermarket table 2 - Law firms by global M&A deal volume
Deal 1: Accord Healthcare £603 million acquisition of Actavis Generics
Jurisdictions: India, Ireland, United Kingdom
Deal type: Public acquisition
Industry sectors: Pharmaceuticals and life sciences
Deal 2: AT&T $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner
Jurisdictions: United States
Deal type: Public acquisition
Industry sectors: Technology and telecommunications, Entertainment
Deal 3: Attijariwafa Bank acquisition of Barclays Bank Egypt
Jurisdictions: Egypt, Morocco
Deal type: Public acquisition
Industry sectors: Banking
Deal 4: Avolon Holdings $10 billion acquisition of CIT Group aircraft leasing unit
Jurisdictions: United States, China, Ireland
Deal type: Public acquisition
Industry sectors: Aviation
Deal 5: Barakah nuclear power project
Jurisdictions: United States, South Korea, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates
Deal type: Project development, Project finance
Industry sectors: Energy
Deal 6: Carlyle $3.2 billion acquisition of Atotech
Jurisdictions: France, United Kingdom
Deal type: Private acquisition
Industry sectors: Industrials and manufacturing
Deal 7: China Merchants Securities $1.5 billion HKSE IPO
Jurisdictions: Hong Kong
Deal type: IPO
Industry sectors: Banking, Financial services
Deal 8: Innogy €5 billion FWB IPO
Jurisdictions: Germany, United Kingdom
Deal type: IPO
Industry sectors: Energy
Deal 9: Kyushu Railway Company $3.9 Billion TSE IPO
Jurisdictions: Japan
Deal type: IPO
Industry sectors: Transport
Deal 10: Mapletree S$1.78 billion divestment of Mapletree Business City
Jurisdictions: Singapore
Deal type: Divestment
Industry sector: Real estate
Deal 11: Pinfra Mex$12 billion first FIBRA E offer
Jurisdictions: Mexico
Deal type: Asset Backed Securities (ABS)
Industry sectors: Transport iii
Deal 12: Republic of Peru sovereign note exchange offer
Jurisdictions: Peru
Deal type: Sovereign bond issue, Bond/note exchange offer
Industry sectors: Government and public policy
Deal 13: Rosneft-led consortium $12.9 billion acquisition of Essar Group's oil arm
Jurisdictions: India, United Kingdom, Russia
Deal type: Private acquisition
Industry sectors: Oil and gas
Reporters
Sam Duke - Editor
Adam Majeed - Asia-Pacific Editor
Ben Naylor - EMEA Editor
John Crabb - Journalist EMEA
Jon Moore - Journalist EMEA
Wai Yee Tsang - Journalist Asia-Pacific
Rani Mehta - Journalist Latin America
Kurt Stumpo - Journalist - North America and the Caribbean