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"European DCM activity totals $1.1 trillion, up 8% compared to YTD 2013Collapse of Pfizer/Astra brings WW M&amp;amp;A to $1.4 trillion, up 71% compared to YTD 2014 Global IPOs hit $79.4 billion so far in 2014, an increase of 54% over 2013 Global Merger activity totals $266.6 billion so far in May, a 41% decline from April Global ECM issuance up 14% in May ($73.9) compared to last month Global Investment Grade Debt totals $230.8 billion in May, up 4% from April This week's competing offers for Hillshire Brands from Pilgrim's Pride and Tyson Foods brings the level of overall hostile and unsolicited bids (including withdrawn) to $296.2 billion from 36 deals for year-to-date 2014, a slight uptick in number of deals compared to a year ago and the strongest year-to-date period, by value, in seven years. Since 1984, over 1,800 hostile and unsolicited deals have been announced with 58% of those deals eventually withdrawn, including this week's collapse of the $6.9 billion merger between Scotland's Weir Group and Finland's Metso Oyj and Pfizer's $122.3 billion offer for AstraZeneca. The withdrawn total includes target companies which eventually went to another bidder, such as this year's dual bids for Time Warner Cable of the United States and France's SFR. Within the universe of withdrawn unsolicited bids over the past 30 years, 23% had a successful competing offer. Walt Disney Co's $2.0 billion investment grade corporate debt offering marks the largest debt offering from the company in over two years and brings the volume of investment grade debt issued by US media &amp;amp; entertainment companies to $10.8 billion, a 36% decline compared to a year ago and the slowest year-to-date period for US issuance in the sector since 2009. Asia Pacific follow-on offerings total $46.5 billion so far this year, a decline of 16% compared to last year at this time and the slowest period for follow-on activity in the region since 2010. This week's $1.4 billion offering from an investor in Macau's Sands China Ltd more than tripled the volume of issuance in the Asia Pacific casino &amp;amp; gaming sector, which saw an offering from Macau Legend Development Ltd earlier this year. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which was sole-bookrunner for the Sands China offering, moved into fifth place for Asia Pacific follow-on underwriting, up from seventh place last year during year-to-date 2013. A $2.1 billion follow-on offering from CI Financial Corp pushed the volume of Canada equity capital markets activity so far this year to $10.7 billion, a 55% increase compared to year-to-date 2013 and the strongest period for issuance since 2011. Energy and power, financials and materials issuers account for 80% of overall ECM activity in Canada this year. RBC Capital Markets tops the list of Canada ECM bookrunners so far in 2014 with 19.8% market share. Source - Thomson ReutersAnd the Best Place to Work in the global financial markets 2015 is..."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2014/05/30/investment-banking-scorecard-30-may-2014-thomson-reuters/>