Investment Banking Weekly Scorecard

Oil & Gas Accounts for 12% of WW M&A

The $6.2 billion acquisition of Tennessee Gas Pipeline by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners pushes the volume of deal making activity in the oil & gas sector to $168.6 billion for year-to-date 2012, an increase of 5% compared to last year at this time. Oil & gas M&A accounts for 12% of worldwide merger activity this year compared to 9% during year-to-date 2011, while companies and assets in the United States and Canada account for just over two-thirds of volume this year. Cross-border M&A activity in the oil & gas sector accounts for 45% of all activity compared to 56% in 2011.

JP Morgan tops the ranking of financial advisors in the oil & gas sector with $41.5 billion from 15 deals, up from 13th place last year, Goldman Sachs follows closely behind in second place.

Retail M&A Gains 54% Over 2011

Best Buy founder Richard Schulze's $7.7 billion offer to take the Minnesota-based retail giant private brings the total volume of announced M&A in the retail sector to $77.3 billion so far this year, an increase of 54% compared to year-to-date 2011. Companies in Switzerland, the United States and the United Kingdom account for just under 75% of overall retail deals this year, compared to 28% during the year-ago period.

Goldman Sachs, which advised Walgreen Co on its bid for Alliance Boots in June and advised Best Buy along with JP Morgan, has moved into the top spot for financial advisory work in the retail sector this year with $42.5 billion from 12 deals. Lazard and Centerview Partners round out the top three advisors this year.

Consumer Staples Corporate Debt Up 87%

This week's multi-billion dollar offerings from Altria Group ($2.8 billion) and PepsiCo ($2.5 billion) bring the volume of global investment grade corporate debt issuance in the consumer staples sector to $66.4 billion for year-to-date 2012, an increase of 87% compared to last year at this time. Issuance from the United States, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Netherlands accounts for 78% of year-to-date issuance.

Source - Thomson Reuters