Egypt's EFG-Hermes, the leading investment bank in the Middle East, is seeking to run ten new mergers and acquisitions this year, its investment banking director announced Monday. Mostafa Gad further said that the planned M&A deals will be in several sectors in the Egyptian and UAE markets. EFG-Hermes has closed 2015 as the number one investment bank in the Middle East as ranked by fees generated from equity capital market transactions, according to an independent report compiled by Thomson Reuters Deal Making Intelligence. The report notes that "EFG Hermes took the top spot for ECM underwriting fees in the region with a 15.5% share," finishing atop the rankings in 2015 after having closed 2014 in fifth place. "The team served as global coordinator and bookrunner on four of the five largest transactions in the Middle East last year," said EFG Hermes Head of Investment Banking Ahmed El-Guindy. "The firm's performance is a testament to our ability to consistently outperform our regional and global peers through our choice of high quality investment stories as well as our unrivaled ability to raise considerable demand from local, regional, global and emerging market investors, despite challenging market conditions."
