The Banking Executive Magazine, Issue 154, October 2021

Refinitiv First Nine Months of 2021 SHOW MENA M&A ACTIVITY HITTING $68.6BLN: REFINITIV Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) an- nounced during the first nine months of 2021 with some degree of MENA involvement totaled $68.6 billion, a 17 percent increase from the same period last year and just $660 million short of the full-year total last year, according to global data provider, Refinitiv. M&A involving a MENA target reached $46.8 billion, up 2 percent compared to the same period last year, and the highest number of deals on record in the first nine months of a year. The largest M&A with a MENA target this year is the $12.4 billion deal of Saudi oil producer Aramco selling a 49 percent stake in its pipelines busi- ness to the US based EIG Global En- ergy Partners, the data provider said in a report. A newly formed unit called Aramco Oil Pipelines Company will lease usage rights in the Saudi oil giant’s stabilized crude oil pipelines net- work for 25 years. Saudi Arabia was the most targeted nation with $19.5 billion in M&A ac- tivity, equivalent to 42 percent of tar- get M&A in the MENA region, Refinitiv said. In another high-profile M&A deal, Kuwait's Agility and DSV Panalpina signed an agreement for DSV to ac- quire Agility’s Global Integrated Lo- gistics (GIL) business for $4.07 billion. The combination is expected to create a top-three global freight forwarder based on revenues. According to available data with Re- finitiv, inbound M&A reached its highest year-to-date total since records began in 1980, with activity reaching $24.8 billion and exceed- ing 2020’s full-year total. utbound M&A rebounded from 2020 reaching $17.5 billion, a 254 percent increase from the same period last year and the highest year-to-date total since 2009. Energy and Power was the most ac- tive sector with $22.8 billion in deal activity, representing a 102 percent increase from last year. JP Morgan topped the league table in the first nine months of 2021 with $27.8 billion in related activity or a 41 percent share of the market. Mor- gan Stanley and HSBC came second and third with 29 percent market share, respectively. ISSUE 154 OCTOBER 2021 the BANKING EXECUTIVE 15