Thomson Reuters Releases First Quarter 2010 Global Investment Banking Reviews

LONDON and NEW YORK, NY, Apr 06 (MARKET WIRE) --
M&A Volumes in US and Asia Drive Activity This Quarter as IPOs See Best
Q1 in a Decade

London, New York, 6 April 2010 - Thomson Reuters has released the final
first quarter 2010 (Q1 2010) global reviews for mergers & acquisitions
and capital markets activity.

The value of globalmergers & acquisitions (M&A) totaled US$573.3bn during
the first quarter of 2010, a 20.5% increase from first quarter 2009
levels and the strongest opening quarter for M&A since 2008. First
quarter M&A activity is down just 5% from the fourth quarter of 2009,
which saw US$601.5bn in deals. M&A involving emerging market companies
totaled US$182.1bn during Q1 2010, more than double the activity
announced during the first quarter of 2009 and accounting for 33% of
global activity for the quarter. Private-equity backed M&A activity
totaled US$32.4bn during the first quarter of 2010, the largest opening
period since the first quarter of 2008. The quarter's volume is an
increase of 89% compared to the first quarter of 2009. Goldman Sachs is
the lead adviser for global M&A with US$151.5bn in deals advised.

Equity capital markets (ECM) activity totaled US$167.5bn for first quarter
2010, a 138% increase over first quarter 2009 when new issuance totaled
US$70.4bn. This quarter marks the best annual start for global equity
capital markets activity since the first quarter of 2007. Global
follow-on offerings totaled US$101bn, accounting for 60% of overall
activity this year and registering a 63% increase over the first quarter
of 2009. The market for global initial public offerings saw its strongest
opening quarter for new listings since 2000 with US$46.4bn in issues,
bolstered by multi-billion dollar offerings from companies in the BRIC
regions which account for 49% of IPO volume this year. JP Morgan led all
equity capital markets underwriters for the second consecutive year with
US$14.8bn in proceeds from 82 issues.

Overall global debt capital markets (DCM) activity totaled US$1.5tr
during the first quarter of 2010, a 10% decrease over last year when
volume reached US$1.7tr. First quarter activity is up on a consecutive
basis, with a 37% increase over the fourth quarter of 2009. The volume of
global corporate high yield debt reached US$75.5bn during first quarter
2010, breaking all quarterly records for corporate high yield debt
issuance. Debt capital markets activity from Asia Pacific issuers, the
only region to see positive year-over-year gains, increased 2% compared
to first quarter 2009 totals. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is the lead
bookrunner to global DCM issuance, with US$132bn in underwriting and 8.6%
of the market.

Global syndicated lending activity continued to decline, with first
quarter volume standing at US$460.6bn. Of this total, US$403bn, or 87%,
saw wider syndication, while the remaining US$57.6bn were structured as
club deals. Proceeds from the Americas comprised 39.7% of total
first-quarter syndicated lending. This marked a departure from the first
quarter of 2009 in which Europe controlled the majority of the market at
36.7%. Japanese and Asian lending stood at 19.5% and 12.7% of total
global proceeds, both near historic highs.

"If the levels of activity in the first quarter are any indication, we
have reason to be more optimistic for the year ahead", said Neil
Masterson, Global Managing Director of Investment Banking at Thomson
Reuters. "The high-yield markets are seeing record global issuance,
indicating investor confidence and bolstering Investment Banking fees.
Bookrunning fees continue to outpace M&A advisory fees with DCM
contributing 32% to the fee pool. M&A activity is slower than the
previous quarter, but up from year ago levels in the US and Asia and for
private-equity related M&A. The equity capital markets continue their
recovery driven largely by emerging market IPOs and a robust global
pipeline."

The full reviews are available at theThomson Reuters Deals Intelligence
http://online.thomsonreuters.com/dealsintelligence website.

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Press Release (PDF): http://hugin.info/142273/R/1400890/356048.pdf

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