After many months of gloomy M&A statistics, deal making activity is finally looking up again with a 25 per cent increase in terms of value reported for the first half of the year compared to the same time period last year.

The report by mergermarket further reveals that the CEE region - excluding Russia - is set to become the new hot spot for M&A activity, closely followed by the UK and Ireland.

Activity in the latter region is set to be spurred on particularly by distressed M&A as banks which have propped up mid-market businesses throughout the crisis find themselves under increasing pressure to act.
 
The M&A marketplace underwent a profound change over the last year as companies and dealmakers grappled with the challenges of a hostile business climate in which the prevailing uncertainty and tight liquidity conditions stymied deal flow, says Paul Hartzell, senior vice president at Merrill DataSite.
 
As a result of the hardship faced in the financial services sector, the industry frequently topped the M&A charts over the past few months, but in the majority of cases deals were driven by a need to bail out banks on the verge of collapse. With a degree of normality returning to the market, sector focus and deal rationale are shifting, pushing other sectors into the foreground.
 
The industrials and chemicals sector has topped deal making charts in terms of volume, accounting for just over 20 per cent of all EMEA deals. In terms of value, the ever-domineering energy, mining and utilities space again accounted for the lion’s share of deals, while the industrial and chemicals and financial services sectors played a central role in deal making in the EMEA region.

The most active financial adviser in terms of value was Credit Suisse, advising on 57 deals with a total value of EUR67.54bn. By volume, Rothschild retains top spot, working on 72 deals worth EUR33.11bn.

For legal advisers, Sullivan & Cromwell came out tops in terms of value after working on 15 deals worth EUR64.79bn. Allen and Overy come in at number one by volume after advising on a total of 83 deals with a combined value of EUR44.39bn.