Thomson Reuters Releases First Quarter 2010 Glo...

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.

Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for
businesses and professionals.  We combine industry expertise with innovative
technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the
financial, legal, tax and accounting, healthcare and science and media markets,
powered by the world's most trusted news organization.  With headquarters in New
York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters
employs more than 50,000 people and operates in over 100 countries. For more
information, go to www.thomsonreuters.com <

http://www.thomsonreuters.com>.



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    Press Release (PDF): 

http://hugin.info/142273/R/1400890/356048.pdf