According to IFLR1000's selection of deal announcements, it has been a busy March with deals across M&A, capital markets—especially on the debt side—and project development in a range of sectors. The banking, energy, government and public policy, oil and gas, and investment management sectors were the most active, and there were a number of landmark transactions, including one in a country with the lowest population density in Central America.
The Global Infrastructure Partners III fund—that invests in infrastructure businesses and assets globally—raised $15.8 billion, which became largest infrastructure fund ever, and the HKSAR Government issued a $1 billion sukuk under the Government Bond Programme, which was the third dollar-denominated sukuk launched by the HKSAR Government following issues in September 2014 and June 2015; also the Private Power and Infrastructure Board, on behalf of the Pakistan government, and Karot Power Company signed the implementation agreement for the development and operation of a $1.69 billion 720MW hydropower project, which is one of the priority projects of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor under China's 'one belt one road' investment strategy, and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (Nbad) sold a €587 million green bond in what was the first instrument of this type issued by an entity in the Middle East.
Following on from February, deal values have been steady this month at an aggregate of almost $34 billion at the top end of the market. It was Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom with 21 deals that took the lion's share of deal value, and Kirkland & Ellis put itself back in familiar territory at the top of the deal volume charts with 24 deals after sacrificing its streak of seven months on top for a one month stint at the helm of deal values.
Elsewhere, the government of Belize restructured its $525.5 million 6.767% bond issue due 2038, which was the first example of a sovereign restructuring where there was a robust engagement clause in the existing documentation, and the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) integrated oil and gas project—Ghana's first large gas development—is well underway with the expectation that it will start producing oil in 2017 and gas in 2018.
Also PSA Group is set to acquire General Motors (GM) European brands Opel and Vauxhall in a €1.8 billion deal and the combined group will have 28 production facilities across Europe and a 16% market share, making it the second biggest car manufacturer in Europe behind Volkswagen; Metinvest, the largest group of steel and mining companies in Ukraine, restructured its €2.3 billion debt with its creditors and bond holders after two years of negotiations that contained the first scheme of arrangement to impose a standstill agreement on creditors; and Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) signed a share purchase agreement with Petronas to acquire a 50% equity interest, valued at approximately $7 billion, in a joint venture with Petronas to develop the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project in the southern Malaysian state of Johor.
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 March 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: BioPharma Credit LSE/CISEA IPO
Jurisdictions: United Kingdom, Channel Islands: Guernsey
Deal type: IPO
Industry sectors: Financial services, Investment management
Deal 2: CC Land Holdings £1.15 billion acquisition of the Leadenhall Building
Jurisdictions: United Kingdom
Deal type: Private acquisition
Industry sectors: Real estate
Deal 3: Credit Suisse $1.5 billion CoCo and SFr200 million contingent write-down notes issues
Jurisdictions: Switzerland
Deal type: Convertible and hybrid securities, High-yield bond/note issue
Industry sectors: Banking
Deal 4: ExxonMobil $2.8 billion acquisition of 25% stake in Mozambique offshore Area 4
Jurisdictions: United States, Mozambique, Italy, United Kingdom
Deal type: Private acquisition, Concession
Industry sectors: Oil and gas
Deal 5: Global Infrastructure Partners III
Jurisdictions: United States
Deal type: Fund formation
Industry sectors: Investment management
Deal 6: Government of Belize $562.5 million 4.9325% sovereign bond restructuring
Jurisdictions: Belize
Deal type: Bond/note restructuring
Industry sectors: Government and public policy
Deal 7: Hellman & Friedman/GIC €1.8 billion acquisition of Allfunds Bank
Jurisdictions: Italy, Spain, United Kingdom
Deal type: Private acquisition
Industry sectors: Banking
Deal 8: Hong Kong $1 billion sukuk issue
Jurisdictions: Hong Kong
Deal type: Investment grade bond/note issue, Sukuk, Sukuk al wakala
Industry sectors: Government and public policy
Deal 9: Karot 720MW Hydro Power Project
Jurisdictions: Pakistan, Singapore
Deal type: Project development, Project finance
Industry sectors: Energy
Deal 10: Metinvest $2.3 billion debt restructuring
Jurisdictions: Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ukraine
Deal type: Bond/note restructuring, Financial restructuring
Industry sectors: Industrials and manufacturing, Mining
Deal 11: Mongolia $600 million 8.75% sovereign bond issue and exchange offer
Jurisdictions: Mongolia
Deal type: Investment grade bond/note issue, Sovereign bond issue, Bond/note exchange offer
Industry sectors: Government and public policy
Deal 12: National Bank of Abu Dhabi $587 million 3% green bond issue
Jurisdictions: United Arab Emirates
Deal type: Investment grade bond/note issue, Green bond issue
Industry sector: Banking, Energy, Government and public policy
Deal 13: Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) integrated oil and gas project
Jurisdictions: Ghana, United Kingdom
Deal type: Project development, Project finance
Industry sectors: Oil and gas
Deal 14: PSA Group €2.2 billion acquisition of Opel-Vauxhall
Jurisdictions: France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland
Deal type: Private acquisition
Industry sectors: Automotive
Deal 15: Samalayuca – Sásabe Pipeline
Jurisdictions: Mexico
Deal type: Project development, Project finance
Industry sectors: Oil and gas
Deal 16: Saudi Aramco $7 billion acquisition of 50% of the RAPID project
Jurisdictions: Malaysia, Saudi Arabia
Deal type: Private acquisition, Project development
Industry sectors: Oil and gas
Deal 17: Toyota €1.2 billion acquisition of Vanderlande from NPM Capital
Jurisdictions: Netherlands
Deal type: Private acquisition
Industry sectors: Logistics
Deal 18: Vista Equity Partners C$4.8 billion acquisition of DH Corporation
Jurisdictions: Canada, United States
Deal type: Private acquisition
Industry sectors: Banking, Technology and telecommunications
Deal 19: Wood Group £2.23 billion acquisition of Amec Foster Wheeler
Jurisdictions: United Kingdom
Deal type: Public acquisition
Industry sectors: Energy, Oil and gas
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