News release

Contact:
Serj Heera
PR Manager, Business Information and Automotive
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EXPERIAN’s Q3 2009 M&A and ECM INFORMATION

Nottingham, UK, 05 October 2009 - Experian^®, the global information services company, today released its latest M&A and ECM data covering Q3 2009 for the UK and Europe.  Figures from Corpfin, an Experian company specialising in the provision of corporate and financial information, show the following:

UK

·         The UK saw a 10.7% decrease in UK M&A and ECM transactions announced during Q3 2009 compared to Q2 2009 (from 1,112 deals to 993 deals)

·         £52.2 billion worth of transactions were announced in the UK in Q3 2009, down by 26.6% on Q2 2009

·         JP Morgan Chase & Co was the best performing financial advisor by volume with 21 deals and Citigroup worked on the highest value of deals worth a total of £13 billion

·         Eversheds advised on the highest number of transactions (20) in Q3 2009, while the leading legal advisor by value was Slaughter and May with deals worth a total of £17.4bn

Brian Rarity, strategic consultant with Corpfin commented: “It is hardly surprising that different regions are emitting different signals. Some are not doing well in relation to the national average; some areas like Greater London more or less define the national average but others seem to be forging ahead with results in Q3 2009 some 20% better in terms of deal values and volumes in relation to Q2. Over all, many deals concluded in Q3 were lucky to see themselves concluded while being set up in difficult times.”

United Kingdom in DETAIL:

UK deal volumes

There was a 10.7% decline in the number of deals announced during Q3 2009 compared to Q2 2009, with deal volumes decreasing from 1,112 transactions to 993 deals. In Q3 2008, 1,242 transactions were announced, which is a fall of 20% compared with Q3 2009.

UK deal values

The total value of transactions announced in Q3 2009 has decreased by 26.6% in comparison with Q2 2009. Q3 2008 saw transactions worth £62.5 billion announced, which is 16.5% lower than the Q3 2009 total.

UK deal sizes

Large deals (£100million*)

·         A total of 78 M&A and ECM deals with a consideration over £100million* were recorded in Q3 2009, a decrease compared to the Q2 2009 figure of 80 large deals announced. Q3 2008 saw a total of 66 large transactions announced, which represents an increase for Q3 2009 of 18%.

·         The deal values of large transactions have also decreased to £47 billion, down by 27.3% in comparison to £64.7 billion announced in Q2 2009 and down by 14.9% in comparison to £55.2 billion recorded in Q3 2008.

·         There were 9 transactions with a consideration of over £1billion each recorded in Q3 2009, resulting in a total value of £25.4billion, a 43.4% decrease on the £44.9billion brought by 11 deals in Q2 2009

·         The largest transaction in Q3 2009, was the announcement by Kraft Foods Inc, that it has approached Cadbury Plc with a potential offer to acquire the company for £10.2billion

Mid-cap deals (£10-£100million*)

·         In the mid-cap range both deal volumes and values decreased in Q3 compared to Q2 2009. A total of 131 transactions worth £4.5billion represented a 19.1% and 21.3% decrease respectively in volume and value terms on the 162 deals valued at £5.7billion recorded in the previous quarter.

·         The Q3 2009 volume and value figures were also down on the ones of Q3 2008, when 188 transactions worth £6.2billion were recorded.

Small-cap deals (under £10million*)

·         Small deals accounted for 242 announced transactions and a deal value of £725.6million in Q3 2009 in contrast to Q2’s 258 deals worth £743.4million.

·         A total of 305 small deals accounting for £1billion were announced in Q3 2008.

UK deal types

In Q3 2009, there were 484 acquisitions, accounting for 39.8% of all M&A and ECM deals.  Acquisitions were also highest in respect of the deal value, with £29.4billion worth of deals.

However acquisitions were even more common in Q3 2008, accounting for 51% of all M&A and ECM transactions announced. 

UK regions

Only the South West, North East and Yorkshire recorded a larger number of M&A and ECM deals in Q3 2009 in comparison with the previous quarter, an increase of 20.4%, 39.3% and 33.9%, respectfully.

The regional deal values figures provided a completely different picture, when seven regions saw the total values increase: South East (up by 69.9%), South West (up by 23%), East Anglia (up 157.4%), Yorkshire (up 15.9%), North West (up 99.4%), North East (up 495.8%) and finally Wales (up 508.9%) on Q2 2009 figures.

UK financial and legal advisors

Corpfin’s insight into advisors’ deal activity has enabled it to identify the most active financial and legal advisors in Q3 2009.

Table 1: Financial advisor deal activities by volume Q3 2009

Table 2: Legal advisor deal activities by volume Q3 2009

Table 3: Financial advisor deal activities by value Q3 2009

Table 4: Legal advisor deal activities by value Q3 2009