LATIN AMERICA
TTR Deal Tracker is a monthly email update identifying M&A trends in Latin America and compiling YTD rankings of leading financial and legal advisors
BRAZIL: Dealmaking in chemicals segment gains momentum
Dealmaking in the chemicals segment gained momentum in the first five months of 2016 with a 38.5% jump in transactions compared to the corresponding five-month period of 2015, according to TTR data (www.TTRecord.com).
International investors demonstrated continued interest in the space with six of 13 deals led by foreign buyers YTD versus five of eight in the first five months of 2015.
MEXICO: National food and beverage companies hungry for buys abroad
Mexican food and beverage companies are demonstrating strong appetite for targets at home and abroad with 10 deals in the first five months of 2016 compared to three in the corresponding five-month period last year, a 233% increase, according to TTR data (www.TTRecord.com).
The country’s acquisitive food and beverage groups are looking to the international market with unprecedented appetite, with eight of the 10 deals YTD targeting peers abroad whereas the three deals led by Mexican companies in the first five months of 2015 were all domestic.
Latin America Ranking – 2016*
Financial Advisory – Year to Date (YTD)
Banco Itaú BBA leads TTR’s Latin America financial advisory ranking at the close of May with 10 transactions under its belt YTD worth a combined USD 15.1bn. Itaú remains at the top despite a 44% decline in volume and a 63% decrease in aggregate value compared to its performance in the first five months of 2015 when it also topped the chart after advising on 18 deals together worth USD 41.2bn. Banco BTG Pactual follows in second place with eight mandates at the end of May worth USD 9.3bn in aggregate. BTG Pactual’s deal volume fell 43%, its aggregate value 67% compared to the five months ending 31 May 2015 when it had advised on 14 deals together worth USD 28.3bn. Citigroup bucked the general trend increasing deal volume region-wide by 250% and aggregate value 249% by the close of May to place third with seven deals together worth USD 13.9bn. Citigroup did not appear among the top 10 in the regional chart a year ago. Banco Bradesco BBI tied Citi by deal volume placing fourth, maintaining its ranking of a year ago despite an 81% decline in aggregate transaction value from USD 27.6bn to USD 5.3bn. Morgan Stanley ranks fifth by volume at the close of May with six deal mandates YTD together worth USD 18.5bn, taking the lead by aggregate value. The US-based bank was not among the top 10 in the regional ranking a year ago, nor was BBVA, which ranks sixth, also with six mandates YTD, in its case worth USD 8bn combined. BAML is up one position compared to its ranking at the end of May 2015 to place seventh, having added one transaction to its tally of a year ago. The aggregate value of the transactions it’s advised on is up 488% from USD 2.4bn in the first five months of 2015 to USD 14bn YTD. BR Partners ranks eighth with four deals together worth USD 4.5bn. BR Partners didn’t place among the top 10 a year ago, nor did Ártica Investimentos, in ninth, also with four mandates YTD, in its case of undisclosed consideration. Goldman Sachs brings up the rear with three mandates YTD in Latin America, down one deal compared to its performance in the first five months of 2015 when it advised on four transactions to place seventh. Goldman’s deals are worth USD 18.3bn YTD putting it in second place by aggregate value.
Baker & McKenzie leads TTR’s Latin America legal advisory ranking for the first five months of 2016 with eight mandates together worth USD 763m, notwithstanding a 33% decline in volume and a 67% drop in aggregate deal value compared to its 12 deals together worth USD 2.3bn of a year ago when it ranked second. Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton ranks second by volume with seven mandates on deals together worth USD 4.5bn after not placing among the top 10 in the first five months of 2015. Jones Day fell two positions to rank third, also with seven mandates YTD, in its case worth USD 646m combined. Jones Day led the chart a year ago when it had advised on 13 deals together worth USD 6.9bn by the close of May. Clifford Chance has advised on five deals YTD, the same volume it registered at the end of May 2015, falling one position in the chart to rank fourth as the aggregate value of its deals plummeted from USD 26.2bn to 6.9bn between the two periods. Linklaters ranks fifth, also with five mandates YTD, after not placing among the top 10 in the first five months of 2015. Chadbourne & Parke too was absent from the top 10 a year ago, now ranking sixth with four mandates worth a combined USD 1.8bn. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom holds firm to its seventh-place ranking of a year ago, while aggregate value is up 293% from USD 2.6bn to USD 10.3bn between the two periods. Davis & Gilbert, in eighth, was not among the top 10 a year ago. The firm has also advised on three deals in the first five months of 2016, in its case worth a combined USD 1bn, placing it ahead of White & Case, also with three mandates. White & Case lost one deal relative to its four mandates in the first five months of 2015 when it ranked sixth, its aggregate deal value down 81% from USD 3.1bn to 596m. Norton Rose Fulbright ranks tenth after not appearing in the corresponding chart a year ago.
Brazil Ranking* – 2016
Financial Advisory – Year to Date (YTD)
Banco BTG Pactual leads TTR’s Brazil financial advisory ranking at the close of May with eight mandates YTD worth a combined USD 9.3bn, down 11% by volume and 63% by aggregate value from its nine deals together worth USD 29.3bn in the first five months of 2015 when it ranked second. BTG Pactual ousted Banco Itaú BBA from its leading position of a year ago thanks only to its greater aggregate deal value, as the rival bank has also advised on eight deals thus far in 2016, in its case worth USD 6.3bn, representing a 50% decline in volume and an 85% drop in aggregate value from its tally a year ago when it led the chart with 16 deals worth a combined USD 41bn. Banco Bradesco BBI ranks third, as it did a year ago, with seven deals YTD compared to five then, the aggregate value of its transactions down 81% from USD 28bn. BAML ranks fourth in the chart, also with four deals under its belt, after not appearing among the top 10 a year ago. BR Partners, in fifth, also advised on four deals in the first five months of 2016, the same volume it had registered by the end of May 2015. The firm climbed from seventh place a year ago, meanwhile, and registered a 400% increase in aggregate deal value from USD 895m to USD 4.5bn. Morgan Stanley follows in sixth with three mandates YTD, tied by volume with Vinci Partners, in seventh, IGC Partners Assessoria Empresarial in eighth, Magma, in ninth and Ártica Investimentos, in tenth. Of these, only IGC ranked among the top 10 a year ago when it had advised on four deals of undisclosed consideration by the close of May to place eighth then as well.
Legal Advisory – Year to Date (YTD)
Souza, Cescon, Barrieu & Flesch Advogados leads TTR’s Brazil legal advisory ranking at the close of May with 24 mandates YTD worth a combined USD 3.1bn, up from third place a year ago when the firm had advised on 17 deals together worth USD 3.9bn. Pinheiro Neto Advogados ranks second with 21 mandates in the first five months of the year together worth USD 2.9bn, up from fifth at the close of May a year ago when it’d advised on 15 deals worth a combined USD 8.7bn to the close of May. Mattos Filho, Veiga Filho, Marrey Jr. e Quiroga Advogados is in third place with 19 mandates worth a combined USD 1.6bn, down one position from a year ago when it ranked second with 17 transactions under its belt together worth USD 8.6bn. Machado, Meyer, Sendacz e Opice Advogados is down from first place a year ago to rank fourth with 16 deals YTD worth USD 510m compared to 18 worth USD 11.6bn a year ago, representing an 11% dip in volume and a 96% drop in aggregate value. TozziniFreire Advogados is up one position from a year ago to place fifth, its 16 transactions worth USD 323m representing a 33% increase in volume and a 55% decline in combined deal value. Barbosa, Müssnich, Aragão, in sixth, is down two places in the YTD ranking, its 14 mandates worth USD 909m comparing to 16 worth USD 8.6bn of a year ago. Stoche, Forbes, Padis, Filizzola, Clapis, Passaro, Meyer e Refinetti Sociedade de Advogados is in seventh, the firm’s 13 deals worth USD 103m, placing it among the top 10 firms in Brazil whereas it was not to be found on the chart a year ago. Lefosse Advogados, in eighth, was also absent from the top 10 ranking at the close of May 2015. Demarest is down from seventh to take ninth with 10 deal mandates together worth USD 675m compared to 11 worth USD 79m in aggregate a year ago. Lobo & de Rizzo Advogados rounds out the top 10 with nine deals together worth USD 286m, up 80% by volume and 129% by aggregate value compared to a year ago when it didn’t rank among Brazil’s top 10 M&A firms.
Mexico Ranking* – 2016
Financial Advisory – Year to Date (YTD)
BBVA leads TTR’s Mexico financial advisory ranking at the close of May with four advisory mandates YTD worth a combined USD 8bn, up from third place a year ago when it’d advised on half as many deals worth just under USD 2bn combined. Citigroup is up from sixth place a year ago to take second in the chart, its deal volume having tripled and the aggregate value of its transactions up 164% from USD 3.5bn. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, in third and fourth place, respectively, each advised on two deals in the first five months of 2016, neither having placed among the top 10 for their advisory work in Mexico by the close of May 2015. Goldman Sachs, in fifth, Deutsche Bank, in sixth, PC Capital in seventh, Evercore Partners in eighth, Fredericks Michael & Co. in ninth and RIóN M&A, in tenth are tied by volume with a single transaction on their records in the first five months of the year. Of the lot, only RIóN M&A and Evercore Partners placed among the top 10 a year ago, RIóN M&A then in second with three deals together worth USD 247m and Evercore in fourth with two deals worth USD 1.9bn.
BBVA leads TTR’s Mexico financial advisory ranking at the close of May with four advisory mandates YTD worth a combined USD 8bn, up from third place a year ago when it’d advised on half as many deals worth just under USD 2bn combined. Citigroup is up from sixth place a year ago to take second in the chart, its deal volume having tripled and the aggregate value of its transactions up 164% from USD 3.5bn. JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, in third and fourth place, respectively, each advised on two deals in the first five months of 2016, neither having placed among the top 10 for their advisory work in Mexico by the close of May 2015. Goldman Sachs, in fifth, Deutsche Bank, in sixth, PC Capital in seventh, Evercore Partners in eighth, Fredericks Michael & Co. in ninth and RIóN M&A, in tenth are tied by volume with a single transaction on their records in the first five months of the year. Of the lot, only RIóN M&A and Evercore Partners placed among the top 10 a year ago, RIóN M&A then in second with three deals together worth USD 247m and Evercore in fourth with two deals worth USD 1.9bn.
* TTR Rankings are generated with transactions announced or closed in 2016 year-to-date. The ranking includes sales and acquisitions of shares and of assets, creation of joint ventures, and Private Equity/Venture Capital investments. The legal advisor rankings for Brazil and Mexico take into consideration advisory services regarding domestic laws. All rankings only include deals where a company of the respective country was the target of the transaction. In the case of LATAM, it would be a Latin American country. The LATAM ranking does not specify the origin of the advisory law, so the filter only considers firms from the UK/US.
In case of a draw, the adopted criteria will be the following: if the draw is due to number of transactions, the total deal value prevails; if it is due to deal value, the number of transactions prevail. When a draw of both number of transactions and deal value occurs, the same position will be retained and the deals will be arranged alphabetically.
