Modelo Deal Pushes Americans to M&A Lead

The $20.1 billion sale of 50% of Grupo Modelo agreed June 29 shook up the regional M&A league tables, placing JPMorgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch at the top, according to Dealogic. Though BAML led at the midyear point, the numbers through Friday had JPMorgan at the top with $39.5bn volume through 23 deals, just ahead of BAML’s $38.0bn from 13. Lazard, also on the Modelo deal, stood third with $31.6bn from 13. Prior to the Modelo transaction, the largest deal in EM in 1H 2012 and sixth-largest ever in EM, Itau’s $22.1bn volume led the region. Modelo also pushed regional 1H volume to $133.5bn through Friday, ahead of the $74.5bn done in the corresponding period last year. Despite the AB InBev’s purchase of the remainder of the Mexican brewer representing more foreign entry to LatAm, European divestures should continue to drive the M&A market in the rest of the year, bankers say. “We have barely hit the surface of the available divestitures in the region,” notes a New York-based banker, noting that those foreigners who can will still opt to spend more in the region. M&A Fees in LatAm paint a different picture than the volume totals, with BTG Pactual leading the league tables with $62m through Friday, or 47% of the pool. Credit Suisse is second with $34m (30%), and Itau third with $26m (37%). EM-targeted M&A volume reached $377.2bn in 1H 2012, down 4% from 1H 2011, Dealogic says. However, EM?s share of global M&A rose to 30%, the highest share since 2H 2010.