Global merger and acquisition activity is up 21% through the first nine months of the year, according to the latest data from Thomson Reuters.

The firm said Friday that the value of worldwide M&A totaled US$1.75 trillion during the first nine months of 2010, a 21% increase from the same period in 2009. In terms of the number of deals, M&A activity is also up, albeit by just 3.8% compared to last year.

Third quarter M&A activity also increased 21% over the second quarter to US$676.9 billion, making it the largest quarter for worldwide M&A since the third quarter of 2008.

Activity has been particularly strong in emerging markets, the firm said, totaling US$480.7 billion during the first nine months of 2010, a 62.9% increase over the same period in 2009. So far this year, emerging markets M&A has accounted for 27.4% of worldwide M&A volume compared to 21% during the comparable period in 2009.

Additionally, according to estimates from Thomson Reuters/Freeman Consulting, M&A advisory fees from completed transactions totaled US$19.9 billion for the first nine months of 2010, a 38% increase from the comparable period in 2009. Deal activity in the Americas accounted for 49% of the worldwide fee pool, while Europe, Middle East and Africa accounted for 32%. Asia Pacific and Japan contributed 14% and 4%, respectively.

The energy and power sector was the most active during the first nine months of the year, accounting for 20.5% of announced M&A, followed by the financials and materials sectors at 15.5% and 12.8%, respectively.

Goldman Sachs was the leading advisory firm in announced M&A, followed by Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan. RBC Capital Markets was the top Canadian firm in 16th place, up from 22nd spot last year. TD Securities ranked 20th, up from 41st position; and BMO Capital Markets was 25th, up from 45th place.

IE