The first signs of a thaw in the frozen global IPO market came to light in IFLR1000's selection of deal announcements from April 2016. China Zheshang Bank broke the HK$10 billion threshold in its Hong Kong IPO—and became the ninth of 12 Chinese second-tier lenders to publicly float its shares—as China's banking system continued its pursuit of private capital.
Streets ahead of the competition, US firms Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher catapulted to the top of the value stakes on account of their advice to the parties in Abbott Laboratories' huge $25 billion acquisition of St Jude Medical.
The coal and oil industries soldiered on in their post-Paris world struggle as EPH acquired Vattenfall's German lignite coal operations and the oil-rich Emirate of Abu Dhabi issued its first sovereign bond since 2009.
There were further sovereign bond issues by Poland and Guatemala—and we also saw the largest securitisation of residential mortgage loans (RMBS) since the 2008 financial crisis; the privatisation of the Greek Port of Piraeus; and continued interest in the Portuguese banking sector from Spanish banks.
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
I should also mention that we are now live with the first Beta model of our new Deals Database, which will include searchable and filterable data on the most significant legal transactions from around the globe, 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 16 picks for April 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: Abu Dhabi $5 billion sovereign bond issue
Jurisdictions: United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom
Deal type: Investment grade bond/note issue, Sovereign bond issue
Industry sectors: Government and public policy
Deal 2: Abbott Laboratories $25 billion acquisition of St Jude Medical
Jurisdictions: United States
Deal type: Public acquisition
Industry sectors: Healthcare, Industrials and manufacturing
Deal 3: Apex Technology $3.6 billion acquisition of Lexmark
Jurisdictions: China, United States
Deal type: Public acquisition
Industry sectors: Technology and telecommunications
Deal 4: ArcelorMittal €2.77 billion rights issue
Jurisdictions: Spain
Deal type: Secondary offering of shares
Industry sectors: Industrials and manufacturing
Deal 5: Bankinter €161 million acquisition of Barclays Portuguese assets
Jurisdictions: Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom
Deal type: Public acquisition
Industry sectors: Banking
Deal 6: Canada Pension Plan Investment Board $2.5 billion acquisition of 40% stake in Glencore Agricultural Products
Jurisdictions: Switzerland, United Kingdom
Deal type: Public acquisition
Industry sectors: Agriculture, Natural resources
Deal 7: Cerberus £6.2 billion RMBS
Jurisdictions: United Kingdom
Deal type: RMBS
Industry sectors: Investment management, Real estate
Deal 8: China Zheshang Bank $1.7 billion Hong Kong IPO
Jurisdictions: Hong Kong
Deal type: IPO
Industry sectors: Banking, Financial services
Deal 9: EPH acquisition of Vattenfall's German lignite coal operations
Jurisdictions: Germany, Czech Republic
Deal type: Public acquisition
Industry sectors: Energy
Deal 10: Grupo De Inversiones Suramericana $550 million bond issue
Jurisdictions: Colombia
Deal type: Investment grade bond/note issue, Refinancing
Industry sectors: Financial services, Insurance
Deal 11: M&G Asia A$150 million acquisition of Melbourne hotels
Jurisdictions: Australia, Singapore
Deal type: Public acquisition
Industry sectors: Real estate, Tourism
Deal 12: Passante di Mestre toll road €830 million project bond issue
Jurisdictions: Italy
Deal type: Project bond issue, Refinancing
Industry sectors: Agriculture, Natural resources
Deal 13: Port of Piraeus €1.5 billion privatisation
Jurisdictions: Greece, China
Deal type: Public acquisition, Privatisation
Industry sectors: Shipping, Transport
Deal 14: Republic of Guatemala $700 million sovereign bond issue
Jurisdictions: Guatemala, Luxembourg
Deal type: Investment grade bond/note issue, Sovereign bond issue
Industry sectors: Government and public policy
Deal 15: Republic of Poland $1.75 billion sovereign bond issue
Jurisdictions: Poland, Luxembourg
Deal type: Investment grade bond/note issue, Sovereign bond issue
Industry sectors: Government and public policy
Deal 16: Rovi $1.1 billion acquisition of TiVo
Jurisdictions: Switzerland, United States
Deal type: Public acquisition
Industry sectors: Entertainment, Technology and telecommunications
Reporters
Sam Duke - Editor
Adam Majeed - Asia-Pacific Editor
Ben Naylor - EMEA Editor
John Crabb - Journalist EMEA
Jon Moore - Journalist EMEA
Candy Chan - Journalist Asia-Pacific
Rani Mehta - Journalist Latin America
Kurt Stumpo - Journalist - North America and the Caribbean