Merger and acquisition activity blooms
(18 April 2011 – Australia) The Australian syndicated loan market has gained momentum as loan underwriting activity increases according to National Australia Bank (NAB) managing director and global head of loan syndications Mark Garrick.
"As the figures suggest, we’ve seen more companies refinance this year and in particular an increase in event-driven financing as companies become more confident that the market will support them.
"Approximately A$60-80 billion needs to be refinanced this year before any allowance is made for acquisition driven funding," Mr Garrick said.
The first quarter of 2011 had shown Australian companies had upped the ante in the corporate loan market, with a near US$16 billion (A$15.16 billion) increase in loan volumes, a jump compared to this time last year.
For the first quarter of 2011, acquisition loan volume reached US$6.7 billion or 43 percent of total Australian loan volume, up significantly from only US$879 million in the first quarter of 2010.
"Australian acquisition loan funding reflected 77 percent of total Asia Pacific acquisition loan funding in the first quarter which shows just how active merger and acquisition activity has been in Australia.
"In fact, NAB ranked second in the global loan underwriting league tables for the first quarter, behind JP Morgan but ahead of Bank of America," Mr Garrick said.
He also said many companies had moved towards Asia as liquidity and pricing remained big drawcards.
NAB was linking domestic customers with Asian investors with the expectation that Asia's participation in the syndicated loan market will grow steadily over the next five years.
"Approximately A$60-80 billion needs to be refinanced this year before any allowance is made for acquisition driven funding," Mr Garrick said.
The first quarter of 2011 had shown Australian companies had upped the ante in the corporate loan market, with a near US$16 billion (A$15.16 billion) increase in loan volumes, a jump compared to this time last year.
For the first quarter of 2011, acquisition loan volume reached US$6.7 billion or 43 percent of total Australian loan volume, up significantly from only US$879 million in the first quarter of 2010.
"Australian acquisition loan funding reflected 77 percent of total Asia Pacific acquisition loan funding in the first quarter which shows just how active merger and acquisition activity has been in Australia.
"In fact, NAB ranked second in the global loan underwriting league tables for the first quarter, behind JP Morgan but ahead of Bank of America," Mr Garrick said.
He also said many companies had moved towards Asia as liquidity and pricing remained big drawcards.
NAB was linking domestic customers with Asian investors with the expectation that Asia's participation in the syndicated loan market will grow steadily over the next five years.
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