In M&A, at Least, Citi Is on Top

Discussion in 'Professional Trading' started by ASusilovic, Mar 6, 2009.

  1. Citigroup’s stock price may be plumbing new depths, but Citi’s bankers are apparently doing a bang-up job landing deals, especially considering the state of the market.

    Citigroup grabbed the top spot on the mergers and acquisitions league table as of the beginning of March, according to data from Thomson Reuters.

    The beleaguered and bailed-out bank advised on $138.3 billion worth of deals so far this year, edging out second-place Morgan Stanley, which rang up $136.2 billion.

    JPMorgan rounded out the top three with $114 billion, followed by Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, with $89 billion and $86 billion, respectively.

    Citi has had its hands in about 45 percent of the $302 billion worth of M&A deals announced so far this year around the world.

    That is quite an improvement from the fifth-place position the bank found itself in at the same time last year. Then again, there were more investment banks to compete against back then. The demise of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, and the distressed sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America, have knocked some players off the league tables and allowed some of the survivors, like Citi, to advance.

    But Citi isn’t necessarily raking in the fees it would have in previous years. The worldwide deal pie shrank 20 percent from the same time in 2008, as the credit crisis continues to hinder deal activity. This past February saw some of the dullest deal-making weeks on record, with only a handful of transactions being announced.

    http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/in-ma-at-least-citi-is-on-top/