Egypt’s share of domestic M&A in MENA rises as regional transaction volume tumbles to three-year low: Egypt was the third-largest target nation for domestic M&A in MENA in 1H2020 in terms of value, with our share of regional transactions rising to 8% from 1% during the same period in 2019, according to Refinitiv’s latest MENA Investment Banking Review. Across the region, financials took up the lion’s share of M&A at 41%, rising above energy and power, which came in second at 25%. MENA M&A volumes dropped to a three-year low during the first half of the year, falling 9% y-o-y.

Egypt also saw one of the region’s two sole equity capital markets (ECM) issuances, when Emerald Real Estate Investment raised USD 13.1 mn. Saudi Arabia’s led the ECM league table with the USD 699.7 mn IPO of Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group in March. Total ECM proceeds across the region dropped 58% y-o-y. Egypt recorded debt capital market(DCM) transactions in the first half of the year worth USD 5 bn, with the government’s eurobond issuance in May accounting for the region’s fourth-largest DCM transaction.

Egypt accounted for just 7% of total investment banking fees paid in 1H2020 (up one percentage point from last year), while KSA accounted for 39% and the UAE 29%.

Our friends at EFG Hermes in the top spot of the MENA ECM league table in 1H2020 along with Riyadh Bank Ltd and Jadwa Investment Co. EFG, Riyadh, and Jadwa each claimed a 27% stake in the market on the back of their work on the Sulaiman Al Habib IPO. The three also tied for top place on the league table for top IB fee earners thanks to the transaction. Saudi’s Falcom Financial Services came in fourth with a 9% share of the market. ECM fees dropped 62% y-o-y during the first half of 2020, according to the report.

Standard Chartered was the top DCM bookrunner in 1H2020, while Morgan Stanley was the top M&A advisor in the region.