Upstream Oil and Gas M&A and Capital Raising Values Totaled $47.9 Billion in Q4 2018

A total of 305 deals with a combined value of US$47.9bn were registered in the upstream oil and gas industry in Q4 2018, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Of the total value, US$27.3bn was registered in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Q4 2018, representing a significant decrease of 41 percent from the US$46.2bn in M&A deals announced in Q3 2018. On the capital raising front, a total value of US$20.6bn in capital raising was announced in the upstream sector in Q4 2018, a decrease of 43 percent from the US$36bn in capital raising announced in the previous quarter.

The company’s latest report: ‘Quarterly Upstream M&A and Capital Raising Deals Review – Q4 2018’ states that a total of 120 M&A deals, with a combined value of US$7.9bn, were recorded in the conventional segment, and 53 deals, with a combined value of US$19.4bn, were recorded in the unconventional segment, in the quarter.

Of the total M&A deals, 104 deals, with a combined value of US$14.4bn, were domestic acquisitions and the remaining 69, with a combined value of US$12.9bn, were cross-border transactions. A quarter-on-quarter comparison shows a substantial decrease in domestic transaction values in Q4 2018, compared to US$39.1bn in Q3 2018. However, cross-border transaction values increased substantially by 82 percent in Q4 2018 compared to US$7.1bn in Q3 2018.

Capital raising, through debt offerings, witnessed a decrease of 48 percent in deal value, recording US$16.7bn in Q4 2018, compared with US$31.9bn in Q3 2018. The number of debt offering deals also decreased by 48 percent from 54 in Q3 2018 to 28 deals in Q4 2018.

Capital raising, through equity offerings, registered a decrease of 11 percent in the number of deals and an increase of 33% in deal value with 93 deals, of a combined value of US$3.2bn, in Q4 2018, compared with 105 deals, of a combined value of US$2.4bn, in the previous quarter. 11 private equity/venture capital deals, with a combined value of US$708.3m, were recorded in the upstream industry in Q4 2018, compared with 14 deals, with a combined value of US$1.7bn, in Q3 2018.

Americas remained the frontrunner for M&A and capital raising, registering 104 M&A deals, with a total value of US$21.8bn; and 57 capital raising transactions worth US$6.5bn in Q4 2018. EMEA registered 50 M&A deals of a combined value of US$3bn, and 33 capital raising deals worth US$10.7bn; while APAC registered 19 M&A deals of a combined value of US$2.6bn and 42 capital raising deals worth US$3.3bn in Q4 2018.

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