HONG KONG (Reuters) - Investment banking fees in the Asia Pacific region rose 36 percent to a record $11.7 billion so far this year -- roughly the gross domestic product of oil-rich Brunei -- with UBS <UBSN.VX> and Goldman Sachs <GS.N> the top earners.
By Umesh Desai
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Investment banking fees in the Asia Pacific region rose 36 percent to a record $11.7 billion so far this year -- roughly the gross domestic product of oil-rich Brunei -- with UBS <UBSN.VX> and Goldman Sachs <GS.N> the top earners.
Data from publisher Thomson Financial and consultant Freeman & Co showed that fee growth in the region, excluding Japan, was driven by mergers and acquisitions in the financial services and materials sectors.
M&A deals accounted for 53.1 percent of the fees with the equity capital markets business delivering 37 percent. Debt capital markets followed with a 5.9 percent share and loans contributed 4 percent.
!ADVERTISEMENT!Four Chinese initial public offerings took the top spots, with the combined $28 billion worth of deals generating $392 million in fees.
China Citic Bank's <0998.HK> $5.4 billion simultaneous listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai raised an estimated $119.6 million in fees for deal arrangers China International Capital Corp, CITIC Securities, Citigroup <C.N>, HSBC <HSBA.L>, and Lehman Brothers <LEH.N>.
China Construction Bank's <0939.HK> $7.7 billion IPO gave bankers $115.9 million in fees, followed by the IPO deals for China Railway <601390.SS> and China Shenhua <601088.SS>.
The takeover by Australia's Wesfarmers <WES.AX> of retailer Coles Group <CGJ.AX> came in fifth highest, yielding fees of $67.2 million.
Despite a seize-up in credit markets in the second half of the year, global M&A activity has jumped so far this year to a record $4.3 trillion worth of deals, from $3.9 trillion in 2006, according to data provider Dealogic.
UBS topped Thomson's Asia-Pacific league table, earning $701.7 million in fees so far this year, or a 34.3 percent increase from 2006, with just over half coming from equity capital markets.
Second-ranked Goldman Sachs earned $523.8 million in fees in 2007, marking a 17.9 percent increase from last year.
Morgan Stanley <MS.N> posted the biggest gain of any of the banks, with a 76.6 percent increase from last year to $495.5 million to rank it third.
Citigroup <C.N> was fourth for the year so far, with $447.8 million in fees, a 9.3 percent increase from 2006.
(Editing by Dominic Whiting)
