It has been a spirited April according to IFLR1000's selection of deal announcements, with many deals across M&A and capital markets in a range of sectors. In the past month there has been diverse activity without disproportionate representation in any industries apart from banking, food and beverage, and life sciences which have been particularly busy.
In the banking sector we have seen the the largest listing in Asia-Pacific so far this year, and the largest ever equity portfolio investment in Icelandic history. In a depressed Hong Kong IPO market, Guotai Junan Securities—one of the largest investment banks in the PRC—raised HK$16.47 billion ($2.1 billion) in an IPO that was the biggest stock sale in Hong Kong since Postal Savings Bank of China’s IPO; and former Icelandic bank Kaupthing completed the placement of almost 583 million ordinary shares in Arion Bank, through subsidiary Kaupskil, to Goldman Sachs International and funds managed by Attestor Capital, Och-Ziff Capital Management Group and Taconic Capital Advisors for IKr48.8 billion ($ 482 million).
At over $50 billion at the top end of the market, deal values have shot up from a steadier March, but were still 100% shy of February's dizzying heights. So while Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom took the lion's share of deal value for the second month running, it comes as no surprise that Kirkland & Ellis with 30 deals led the deal volume table for the ninth month out of the last 10.
Elsewhere, Poland made a landmark comeback—after completing the largest ever transaction in the Polish food retail sector in February—when supermarket chain Dino Polska undertook a $ 1.8 billion IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), which is thought to be the largest private equity backed IPO in the CEE to date; and life sciences companies continued on their spending spree as Astellas Pharma made yet another international purchase when buying Ogeda for €800 million. Also Chinese investor Creat Group made its second acquisition in Europe's bio-tech sector in as many years when paying €940 million for German biotech company Biotest.
Becton Dickinson & Co acquired fellow healthcare supplier CR Bard in a huge $24 billion deal, just less than six months after Johnson & Johnson's $30 billion acquisition of Actelion; Danish shipping group Maersk Line acquired German liner Hamburg Süd from Oetker Group for €3.7 billion as consolidation continued on in the global shipping industry as overcapacity has driven rates to an all-time low; and Opale Défense and the French Ministry of Defence (MoD) finalised the €740 million refinancing of a PPP through the use of a project bond to refinance the long-term debt of the “French Pentagon” project, located in the southern 15th arrondissement of Paris.
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 last year—has arrived with other regions coming soon. This database of significant deal records from over 120 countries 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 April 2017 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: Astellas Pharma €800 million acquisition of Ogeda
Jurisdictions: Belgium
Deal type: Private acquisition
Industry sectors: Pharmaceuticals and life sciences
Deal 2: Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras Bovespa/NYSE IPO
Jurisdictions: United States, Brazil
Deal type: IPO
Industry sectors: Aviation
Deal 3: Banco Santander $2.5 billion notes offering
Jurisdictions: Spain
Deal type: Investment grade bond/note issue
Industry sectors: Banking
Deal 4: Becton Dickinson & Co $24 billion acquisition of CR Bard
Jurisdictions: United States
Deal type: Public acquisition
Industry sectors: Healthcare
Deal 5: Creat €940 million takeover of Biotest
Jurisdictions: China, Germany
Deal type: Public acquisition
Industry sectors: Pharmaceuticals and life sciences
Deal 6: Dino Polska WSE IPO
Jurisdictions: Poland
Deal type: IPO
Industry sectors: Consumer goods and services, Food and beverage
Deal 7: Guotai Junan’s $2.1 billion HKSE IPO
Jurisdictions: Hong Kong
Deal type: IPO
Industry sectors: Banking, Financial services
Deal 8: HNA Holding Group S$1.4 billion acquisition of CWT Group
Jurisdictions: Singapore
Deal type: Public acquisition
Industry sectors: Logistics
Deal 9: Kaupthing IKr48.8 billion private placement of Arion Bank shares
Jurisdictions: Iceland
Deal type: Private placement of shares
Industry sectors: Banking
Deal 10: Maersk Line acquisition of Hamburg Süd
Jurisdictions: Denmark, Germany
Deal type: Private acquisition
Industry sectors: Shipping
Deal 11: Ministry of Defence French Pentagon €740 million PPP refinancing
Jurisdictions: France
Deal type: PPP, Project bond issue, Refinancing
Industry sectors: Government and public policy
Deal 12: OCBC $4.75 billion acquisition of NAB's private wealth business
Jurisdictions: Singapore
Deal type: Private acquisition
Industry sector: Banking
Deal 13: Post Holdings $1.76 billion acquisition of Weetabix Food Company
Jurisdictions: United States, China, United Kingdom
Deal type: Private acquisition
Industry sectors: Food and beverage
Deal 14: Shandong Gold and Barrick Gold Corporation joint venture
Jurisdictions: Canada, Argentina, China
Deal type: Joint venture
Industry sectors: Mining
Deal 15: Silver Lake Partners V
Jurisdictions: United States
Deal type: Fund formation
Industry sectors: Investment management
Deal 16: Sushiro $730 million TSE IPO
Jurisdictions: Japan
Deal type: IPO
Industry sectors: Food and beverage
Reporters
Sam Duke - Editor
Adam Majeed - Asia-Pacific Editor
Ben Naylor - EMEA Editor
Jon Moore - Journalist EMEA
Anna Kozakova - Journalist EMEA
Wai Yee Tsang - Journalist Asia-Pacific
Rani Mehta - Journalist Latin America
Kurt Stumpo - Journalist - North America and the Caribbean
Katrin Kostadinova - Data Analyst - Global