If there were two areas for any investment bank’s Middle East advisory team to specialise in and prove all-round excellence in last year, they were the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and outbound transactions. JPMorgan excelled on both counts.
In terms of announced transactions, the US bank worked on 17 M&A deals across the 12-month period, with a combined value of $25.75 billion, for a 25% market share, according to data from Dealogic. It also led in completed deals, overseeing 10 transactions, with a total value of $18.3 billion.
None of its main rivals came close to competing with those volumes and numbers.
“We witnessed a continued drive in cross-border activity and a strong momentum in consolidation efforts across sectors regionally,” says Georges Massoud, head of M&A for the Middle East and North Africa region at JPMorgan.
He also points to a rising “appetite for regional deals” across the advisory space, particularly on the part of sovereign wealth funds and financial sponsors.