M&A ACTIVITY SURGES DESPITE CREDIT CONCERNS

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The volume of merger and acquisition activity worldwide surged 50 per cent to reach $2.78 trillion during the first six months of the year, despite growing concerns among companies about a turn in the credit markets and that the cycle has reached its peak.

Since 2003, chief executives and private equity investors have been fuelling the M&A boom by taking advantage of cheap debt and strong cash flows to bid for companies with attractive valuations.

However, in recent days, several companies have postponed or withdrawn planned offerings of shares, bonds and loans because of concerns over the US subprime market, raising fears that the cycle has reached its peak and activity will slow.
“There is a real concern today that, liquid markets aside, recent adverse developments may trigger a slowdown in large private equity deals in the second half of the year,” said Kamal Tabet, global head of financial sponsors at Citigroup.

Buy-outs by private equity groups reached a new record high of $568.7bn, an increase of 23 per cent on the previous high of $459.2bn in the second half, boosted by bids for Alltel, First Data, SLM and Altadis. Private equity represented 20 per cent of total announced M&A so far this year, according to data from Dealogic.

Europe, the Middle East and Africa accounted for 44 per cent of global volume during the first six months of the year to reach $1.23 trillion. In the US, the volume of deals increased by 37 per cent over the same period, while the pace of activity in Asia Pacific reached $353.4bn.

Gavin MacDonald, European head of M&A at Morgan Stanley said the outlook for corporate deals still looked positive. “The ability to lay off risk has become much more sophisticated, which may be why the current M&A cycle has continued for longer than in past cycles.”




今年上半年，全球并购交易总额飙升50%，达到2.78万亿美元，不过企业越来越担忧，信贷市场可能将出现拐点，而本轮并购周期已经见顶。

自2003年以来，企业首席执行官们和私人股本投资者一直在推动并购热潮，利用廉价的贷款和强劲的现金流收购估值具吸引力的企业。

然而近日来，出于对美国次级抵押贷款市场的担忧，数家企业已推迟或取消了发行股票、债券或贷款的计划，进一步加剧了市场对本轮并购周期已经见顶和并购活动将放缓的担忧。
花旗集团(Citigroup)金融赞助商团队全球主管卡迈勒•塔贝特(Kamal Tabet)表示：“目前存在一种切实的担忧，即尽管市场具有流动性，但近来的不利走势可能导致下半年大规模私人股本交易放慢步伐。”

私人股本集团对Alltel、First Data、学生贷款营销协会(SLM)及阿塔迪斯烟草公司(Altadis)的收购，推动其收购交易总额创下5687亿美元的新高，较去年下半年4592亿美元的前高点增长了23%。Dealogic的数据显示，今年迄今为止，在全球已宣布的并购交易中，私人股本集团占了20%。

今年上半年，欧洲、中东和非洲的并购交易达到1.23万亿美元，占全球并购交易总额的44%。在此期间，美国的并购交易额增长37%，而亚太地区的并购交易达到了3534亿美元。

摩根士丹利(Morgan Stanley)欧洲并购业务主管加文•麦克唐纳(Gavin MacDonald)表示，企业并购前景看上去仍然乐观。“企业削弱风险的能力已大幅提高，这或许就是当前并购周期较过去持续时间更长的原因所在。”