Announced M&A volumes of $20.5 billion declined by 40% from the prior week. There has not been any IPO pricing since Facebook’s $16 billion IPO on May 18th.
Sandler O’Neill’s Weekly M&A Trends:
Equity markets rose on lighter volume
- The S&P 500 rose by 1.3% and the Russell 2000 growth index rose by 0.3% in the week. Quarter to date the S&P 500 has declined by 4.7% and the Russell 2000 growth index has declined by 7.6%.
- Average daily U.S. equity trading volumes decreased by 2.2% in the week. Quarter to date volumes are flat with the 1Q12 average. Average daily U.S. volumes reflect the total number of shares traded on Tape A, Tape B, and Tape C in millions.
- Equity mutual funds experienced net outflows of $1.7 billion in the week according to ICI data (on a one week lag). After turning positive in the previous week, flows turned negative again and have now been negative in twelve of the previous fifteen weeks.
- Volatility, measured by the average CBOE VIX, declined by 2.8% to 22.5, and the DB currency VIX rose by 1.5% to 11.5.
Capital raising volumes increased while announced M&A activity was light
- Equity underwriting volumes of $9.9 billion improved by 16% from the prior week’s level. However, quarter to date, equity underwriting volumes are averaging 21% below the 1Q12 weekly average. We note that there still have not been any IPO pricings since Facebook’s $16 billion IPO on May 18. Note: prior weeks are subject to revisions.
- Corporate debt underwriting volumes of $54.2 billion improved by 42% from the prior week. However, quarter to date, corporate debt underwriting volumes are averaging 37% below the strong 1Q12 weekly average.
- Announced M&A volumes of $20.5 billion declined by 40% from the prior week. Quarter to date, announced M&A volumes are averaging 6% above the 1Q12 weekly average.
- Completed M&A volumes of $32.9 billion improved by 89% from the prior week. Quarter to date, completed M&A volumes are averaging 18% above the 1Q12 weekly average.