In 1H20 the Russian mergers and acquisitions market declined to $40.6bn, its lowest level in nine years, Forbes and the Bell reported on July 23 citing data from Refinitiv.
Notably, as much as $33.9bn of that figure was accounted for the finance ministry buying 50% in Russia's largest bank Sberbank from the Central Bank of Russia (CBR). Apart from that, the M&A activity in 1H20 was at the lowest point since 2004.
In the meantime, share issuance suffered much less, with new equity issued down by only 9% year on year.
Investment bankers saw a 19% y/y drop in the commissions they earned in 1H20, to a total of $144.7mn, with the MMA and share placement commissions down the most. The commissions for bond placements declined less (down 10% to $44mn), but were also dominated by one large deal, Gazprom’s $2bn eurobonds.
The only segment of investment banking activity that posted an increase in commissions was syndicated loans, with a 21% increase to $34.8mn.