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The third quarter of 2018 was a record-breaking period for global M&A.
The third quarter of recent history was both one of best and worst for dealmakers around the world. According to Dealogic, megadeals generated a staggering $1.26 trillion worth of global mergers and purchases during the third-quarter - an increase of 40% over the previous year. This was the second best third-quarter ever by deal value. Data show that only 8,912 transactions were completed, a drop of 16% compared to last year. This is the lowest third-quarter deal volume for 20 years. Dealmakers are in a strange situation, as they had high hopes for 2025 following the election of Donald Trump. Trump's punishing Tariffs, which were unveiled on Liberation Day, and a continuing antitrust crackdown against Big Tech sent the markets soaring in the second quarter. This led many corporations to postpone M&A plans and IPOs while trade negotiations took place. In recent months, a combination of pent-up demand from companies and new stock market highs have sparked a flurry big deals and IPOs that have saved an otherwise dormant year for the industry. Data show that although fewer deals are being signed, the average deal size increased to $141.4m in the third quarter. This is up from $85.5m at the same time last. Liberation Day occurred right at the start of what was going to be an exciting second quarter. In an interview, Naveen Nataraj said that people, "understandably," took their foot off of the pedal as they tried to grasp the implications. As the year progressed, people have become more confident that the tariff landscape will be a place they can navigate. The IPO market was revived earlier this month by several big initial public offerings, such as StubHub’s $800m IPO, and the $1.37bn trading debut of fintech company Klarna, which offers buy-now, pay-later. Approximately 987 companies around the world have raised $115 billion through their IPOs this year. This is down by 24% and 9% from the same time last year. Some IPOs in Europe are being done again. Martin Thorneycroft is the global co-head for equity capital markets at Morgan Stanley. He said that the relatively low IPO issuance since September of last year was primarily because we had not seen large-cap, high-quality companies come to market. But now, we are beginning to see this. CHINA DELISTING THREATENS IN THE US IPOs in Asia and second listings were especially hot. This was particularly true on the Hong Stock Exchange, where on Tuesday the Chinese company Zijin Gold International raised $3.2 billion in its debut. Data from Dealogic shows that companies have raised $23 billion so far in Hong Kong this year. This is more than three-times the amount of money raised in the same period of 2024. Dealmakers report that the pipeline of IPOs remains robust. However, a glitch could arise for new listings as U.S. Congress is at loggerheads with the Trump Administration over federal budget negotiations, and the United States faces a possible government shutdown on Wednesday. This would lead to a halt in IPOs, as federal regulators who are responsible for approving new listings will be furloughed. David Bauer, JPMorgan's co-head of equity markets for the Americas, said that "the IPO backlog is strong and we expect a steady stream of IPOs to come to market until year-end." Investors have profited from IPOs so far this year, but as the market becomes more volatile it is important to price equity accordingly. M&A deals and IPOs were dominated by anything related to AI, be it software, infrastructure, or chips. Dealogic didn't include the $100 billion investment by Nvidia in OpenAI in its league tables. However, other deals, such as CyberArk Software’s $24.5 billion purchase of Palo Alto Networks in July, were included. This Israeli software company uses AI for network and cloud security. Camila Panama, an M&A partner at Mayer Brown, said that almost every client - regardless of their industry - is considering AI as part of their M&A strategies. She said that there is a "robust pipeline" for Q4, and they are expecting a good quarter. They expect to see a lot of activity in the financial sector, insurance deals, as well inbound/outbound Japan deals. M&A GOING FOR SCALE Cross-border deals are also on the rise, with a 44% increase to $931 billion. This is the largest jump since 2021, and represents a new peak. Dealmakers claim that companies are aiming for scale. Dealmakers say that smaller deals below $500 million aren't resonating with investors anymore. Data show that 49 deals have been done over $10 billion this year, up 75% compared to the first nine month of last year. The $55 billion leveraged purchase of Electronic Arts on Monday was the largest deal in the third quarter. But it wasn't the only one. According to Dealogic, the largest deal of the quarter was Union Pacific's $88.18 Billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern in July.
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Yemen's Houthis have said they will target US oil exporters near seas
The Houthis, a militia backed by Iran, said that they will continue to target U.S. oil companies including Exxon Mobil & Chevron in spite of an earlier agreement with the administration of President Donald Trump not to attack U.S. ships sailing on the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden. Sanaa's Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center, which is affiliated with the Houthi Military and liaises among Houthi forces, commercial shipping operators, and other parties, sanctioned thirteen U.S. firms, nine executives, and two vessels. HOCC's website explains that it will deal with those designated as being under the sanctions of the Houthis in accordance to the principle of confrontation. The announcement serves as a warning that these companies, including ConocoPhillips, Diamond S Shipping and others, are hostile entities, open to attack. Requests for comments were not immediately responded to by the companies. Since 2023, the Houthis have repeatedly attacked vessels in Red Sea they believe to be connected with Israel. They claim this is in solidarity with Palestinians in response to Israel's Gaza war. They attacked a Dutch cargo vessel in the Gulf of Aden this week, leaving it ablaze, with two crew members injured. Reporting by Lisa Baertlein and Jonathan Saul, London; editing by Leslie Adler
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Urals diffs stable in opaque trade
The differential between Russia's Urals and Brent crude oil was little changed in Tuesday's featureless trading. However, the return of Iraqi Kurdistan Oil exports will add pressure to the market for sour crude, traders have said. Iraq wants to double the amount of crude oil flowing through the recently reopened Kirkuk - Ceyhan pipeline in Iraq by next year. This was stated by an official from Iraqi state oil marketing company SOMO. Rikan Kareem, speaking at a London conference on Tuesday, said that SOMO aims to reach 400,000-500,000 barrels of oil per day by 2026. After reopening the pipelines on September 27, flows on Monday were between 150,000 and 60,000 barrels per day. OPEC rejected reports in the media on Tuesday that suggested that a group of eight oil producing countries planned to increase output by 500,000 barrels a day during its Sunday meeting. PLATTS WINDOW On Tuesday, there were no bids or offers made on Urals, Azeri BTC Blend or CPC blend in the Platts Window. * On Tuesday, the French Navy said that authorities were investigating an alleged infraction committed by the Benin flagged oil tanker Boracay. The vessel is listed on European Union and British sanction lists against Russia. The Russian government announced on Tuesday that it has extended the existing gasoline export prohibition until the end the year and imposed a partial export ban on diesel. (Reporting and Editing by Matthew Lewis).
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US officials removed over Biden's airline passenger watchlist
The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it has removed five senior officials for suspicions of targeting political opponents of former President Joe Biden with an aviation security watchlist, which is now abolished. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Kristi Noem announced that she would refer the matter to the Justice Department Civil Rights Division as well as to Congress to conduct further investigations. The Transportation Security Administration’s “Quiet Skies” program, which was scrapped in late June, required enhanced screening of some air passengers who were deemed to pose a greater security risk. Noem's department, which includes the TSA (Transportation Security Administration), said that the program costs $200 million per year and was used to "target and benefit political allies and political opponents." Her department stated that under Biden the program would have watchedlisted and denied boarding passengers who refused to comply with COVID's mask mandates in airplanes and others connected to a mob assault on the U.S. Capitol, on January 6, 2021. This was to prevent Biden winning the 2020 election. Trump fired the TSA's head on January 20, and he hasn't named a permanent successor. The program was heavily criticized by many Republicans in Congress. TSA screens over 900,000,000 airline passengers annually and continues to perform vetting duties tied to commercial aviation safety. The executive assistant administrator of the TSA for operations support, and the assistant assistant administrator in charge of intelligence and analysis have been removed. Tulsi Gabrield, then a congresswoman and now Trump's director for national intelligence, was briefly on the TSA "Quiet Skies Watchlist". A report by the Inspector General in 2020 stated that the TSA failed to set benchmarks for demonstrating the effectiveness of the program, and software and system failures meant that passengers were not taken off the list at the appropriate time. After Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's 2009 attempt to detonate an explosive concealed in his underwear aboard an American airliner near Detroit, the U.S. Government sought to improve screening for potential threats. (Reporting and editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Kevin Liffey and David Shepardson)
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The third quarter of 2018 was both one of the best and worst in recent M&A history.
The third quarter of recent history was both one of best and worst for dealmakers around the world. According to Dealogic, megadeals generated a staggering $1.26 trillion worth of global mergers and purchases during the third-quarter - an increase of 40% over the previous year. This was the second best third-quarter ever by deal value. Data show that only 8,912 transactions were completed, a drop of 16% compared to last year. This is the lowest third-quarter deal volume for 20 years. Dealmakers are in a strange situation, as they had high hopes for 2025 following the election of Donald Trump. Trump's punishing Tariffs, which were unveiled on Liberation Day, and a continuing antitrust crackdown against Big Tech sent the markets soaring in the second quarter. Many corporations delayed M&A plans and IPOs while trade negotiations played out. In recent months, a combination of pent-up demand from companies and new stock market highs has sparked a flurry big deals and IPOs that have saved an otherwise dormant year for the industry. Data show that fewer deals are being signed but the average deal size increased to $141.4m in the third quarter. This is up from $85.5m at the same time last. In an interview, Naveen Nataraj said that as the year progressed there was a growing confidence that the tariff landscape would be in a place where people could navigate. Several large, high-profile initial public offerings, such as StubHub’s $800m IPO, and the buy-now, pay-later fintech firm Klarna’s $1.37bn trading debut, were withdrawn in April. These IPOs helped to revive the IPO markets earlier this month. Approximately 987 companies around the world have raised $115 billion through their IPOs this year. This is down by 24% and 9% from the same time last year. Some IPOs in Europe are being done again. Martin Thorneycroft is the global co-head for equity capital markets at Morgan Stanley. He said that IPO issuance has been relatively low since September of last year because there haven't been many high-quality large-cap companies to come to market. Now we are beginning to see this. CHINA DELISTING THREATENS IN THE US IPOs in Asia and second listings were especially hot. This was particularly true on the Hong Stock Exchange, where on Tuesday the Chinese company Zijin Gold International raised $3.2 billion in its debut. Data from Dealogic shows that companies have raised $23 billion so far in Hong Kong this year. This is more than three-times the amount of money raised in the same period of 2024. David Bauer, JPMorgan's co-head for equity capital markets in the Americas, stated that the bank will launch at least a dozen IPOs before Thanksgiving. PE firms have also started to launch more IPOs. Bauer stated that "deals are working, investors make money and a backlog of deals is beginning to grow." CRYPTO AND AI BOOM Crypto companies, and anything related to them, helped fuel the IPO boom in September. The industry benefited from Trump's easing up of regulations in the U.S. In its debut on September 10, stable coin issuer, Figure, raised $787.5 in an IPO which was both oversubscribed and increased in size. M&A deals and IPOs were dominated by anything related to AI, be it software, infrastructure, or chips. Dealogic didn't include the $100 billion investment by Nvidia in OpenAI in its league tables. However, other deals, such as CyberArk Software's $24.5 Billion acquisition of Palo Alto Networks in July, were included. This Israeli software company uses AI for network and cloud security. Camila Panama, an M&A partner at Mayer Brown, said that almost every client is considering AI as part of their M&A strategies, regardless of the industry. M&A: GOING FOR SCALE The cross-border M&A market is also on the rise, with a 44% increase to $931 billion. This is the largest jump since 2021 and a record high. Dealmakers claim that companies are aiming for scale. Dealmakers say that smaller deals below $500 million aren't resonating with investors anymore. Data show that 49 deals have been done over $10 billion this year, up 75% compared to the first nine month of last year. The $55 billion leveraged purchase of Electronic Arts on Monday was the largest deal in the third quarter. But it wasn't the only one. According to Dealogic, the largest deal of the quarter was Union Pacific's $88.18 Billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern in July.
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Officials say that construction of the Vaca Muerta Pipeline in Argentina has reached 35% completion.
Daniel Gonzalez, Argentina's energy minister, announced at a press conference that the construction of a pipeline that will transport oil from the Vaca-Muerta shale area to the coast was 35% completed. The holding company, led by YPF, will build the 437-kilometer Vaca Muerta South pipe to connect Argentina's main production area with a terminal at Rio Negro. This will increase export capacity and solve one of many bottlenecks for energy transport in the country. He told oil executives in Austin, Texas that "there's nothing I can think of to prevent the pipeline from being fully operational one year from now for the initial 360,000 barleys per day." He said that the pipeline's capacity could be as high as 750,000 bpd when its final phase has been completed. Only 5% has been developed at Vaca Muerta. This is the world's largest unconventional oil reserve, and a major source of energy to meet Argentina's energy needs. Currently, about 40% of the production is exported, and 60% is sold locally. However, this proportion will change, as Javier Milei’s policies to encourage exports are expected to increase, Gonzalez said. If producers in Argentina want to stay competitive, they must cut costs at home. This is especially true compared to other shale plays that are more developed like those in the He said.
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Exxon CEO wants security assurances for the LNG terminal from Mozambique President, reports FT
Exxon Mobil's CEO Darren Woods raised concerns last week about the risk that an insurgency could pose to a $30 billion proposal. Gas terminal The Financial Times reported that the Mozambique government sought assurances of security from President Daniel Chapo prior to approving the project. Woods and Chapo discussed TotalEnergies' plans to resume work at a nearby liquefied gas (LNG), which is being developed by this French oil major, and lift a "force majeure", the FT reported, citing people familiar with the talks. In 2017, militants linked to the Islamic State launched an insurgency against the gas-rich northern province of Cabo Delgado, killing thousands of civilians. They also disrupted multi-billion dollar energy projects. Exxon also suffered when TotalEnergies declared a force majeure declaration in 2021 because of an insurgent offensive that threatened the Area 1 Mozambique Liquefied Natural Gas plant. This was due to shared and common facilities such as a LNG jetty, and an offloading facility. Exxon said in November of last year that it expected to be profitable by the end of this year. final investment decision Rovuma LNG project in Mozambique by 2026. A spokesperson for Exxon said that on Tuesday, the oil giant was working closely to ensure that the right conditions were met in order to allow the final investment decision to be made and the lifting of the force majeure status at the Rovuma LNG Project. Exxon, in partnership with Eni, is developing the Rovuma LNG Project in Area 4 offshore in northern Mozambique. It will produce 18 million metric tons per year (mtpa). Chapo, in an emailed response to the FT, said: "We are convinced that, if implemented properly, the Exxon Mobil Project will have a significant impact on the Mozambican economy and, consequently, the lives of Mozambicans." The Mozambican Presidency did not respond immediately to a comment request. Reporting by Rhea Abraham in Bengaluru, and Kanjyik in Barcelona. Editing by Mrigank and Marguerita.
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Boeing is focusing on the recovery but keeping an eye on the market for a new single-aisle aircraft
Boeing has said that it is focused solely on the recovery of its company, despite news reports about the U.S. aircraft manufacturer developing a single-aisle jet which will replace the 737 MAX, its best-selling plane. Boeing spokesperson Ryan Cudney stated in an email that "Our teams are focused on our recovery plans, which include delivering our existing backlogs of nearly 6,000 aircraft and certifying new 737-7 and 737-10 models." He said: "At the exact same time, just as we've done for decades, our team assesses the market, advances the key technologies, improves our financial performance so that we are ready to move forward when it is time to launch a new product." Boeing's commercial plane division has faced a number of crises over the past few years. These include a mid-air crash of a new 737 MAX in 2024 and a 53 day strike that closed down most of Boeing's jet production. In recent years, rival Airbus has received more orders for single-aisle aircraft. Airbus and Boeing websites show that since 2020, Airbus has received 4,540 net orders for its A320 jet family, after cancelling cancelled orders. This compares to 3,300 net order for the 737 MAX. (Reporting from Dan Catchpole, Seattle; Editing by Nick Zieminski).
US Housing Agency blames the 'Radical Left" for looming closure
The unusual message that appeared on the website of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Tuesday blamed Democrats for a possible government shutdown.
A pop-up message on HUD.gov states: "The Radical Left will shut down the Government and inflict immense pain on the American People unless they receive their $1.5 trillion list of demands." The Trump administration wants the government to remain open for Americans.
A bright red banner is displayed on HUD's site.
Some Democrats were not surprised by the overtly political messaging.
"We shouldn't be putting up political messages on the government websites," said Sylvia Garcia, Texas Representative and member of House Financial Services Committee subcommittee for housing and insurance. "I've never seen this kind of message. "I don't believe that would have been acceptable under any previous administration."
Some Democrats claimed that HUD was merely repeating the rhetoric of President Donald Trump.
Jamie Raskin, a Maryland representative, said: "Unfortunately, this has become the norm under the Trump administration. It's a radical departure in American history and the use of taxpayer money for overtly polemical and political reasons."
The federal government will shut down in part at midnight on Tuesday night if Senate Democrats do not support a Republican House proposal to fund it for the next 7 weeks. Democrats rejected the so called clean continuing resolution (CR), instead calling on Republicans negotiate an extension to healthcare benefits that are set to expire by the end of this year. (Reporting and editing by Nolan D. McCaskill)
(source: Reuters)