Below are the recently released Q2 & H1 2018 SPAC IPO Underwriting League Tables
Credit Suisse led 2018’s second quarter based on deal volume, but BofA Merrill Lynch took top honors for SPAC IPOs in the first half of 2018. BofA has been making big moves this year with $1.3 billion in SPAC underwritings to date, whereas in all of 2017 BofA’s total was just $460 million (completed in one transaction). And while Credit Suisse has always been at the top of the SPAC IPO pack, BofA’s efforts are notable and a bank to watch in the second half of the year.
The most glaring omission in the second quarter rankings however, is Deutsche Bank. Deutsche Bank has consistently been at or near the top of SPAC underwritings in previous quarters and years and, in fact, led the SPAC IPO league tables in Q1 2018. However, as you can see, they are not even included in the Q2 rankings. And while DB participated in the very high profile GS Acquisition Holdings, they were only given co-manager status and hence, we could not include them (only bookrunners and leads).
Given the unfortunate noise surrounding Deutsche Bank as a whole, this is not surprising, but it does open up the field for market share. UBS made a debut with New Frontier Corp. as well as Raymond James with LF Capital, so it should be interesting to see if both are on the cover of future deals in 2018. Furthermore, we have the wild card of BTIG, which has already shown their commitment to the SPAC sector. All told, there could be an even further shuffling of the rankings in Q3 and Q4 with these new entrants to the field.
Lastly, it should be noted that both Chardan and EarlyBirdCapital led the rankings for Deal Count with five transactions each. These two banks are consistently active in the SPAC space from both a bookrunner/lead and co-manager position, albeit, with smaller average deal sizes. However, given that Cantor and B. Riley have had strong showings so far in 2018 as well, these two have the potential to unseat Chardan and EarlyBird for deal count going forward.
It’s been an incredibly active first half of the year for SPACs with lots of movement in the rankings. The second half of the year should be just as exciting and we’re looking forward to seeing how it all shakes out.
*Honorable mention to I-Bankers, which co-managed a whopping 13 transactions in the first half of 2018, five of them in the month of June alone.
Ranked by Volume
(All data is sort-able using the arrow keys located in the top row)
H1 2018
| Rank | Underwriter | Volume ($mm) | Deal Count | Avg deal size | % Mkt Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BofA Merrill Lynch | 1,257.5 | 3 | 419.2 | 13.2% |
| 2 | Goldman Sachs | 1,215.0 | 3 | 405.0 | 12.8% |
| 3 | Credit Suisse | 1,182.5 | 3 | 394.2 | 12.4% |
| 4 | Chardan | 976.8 | 5 | 195.4 | 10.3% |
| 5 | Deutsche Bank | 850.0 | 3 | 283.3 | 8.9% |
| 6 | EarlyBirdCapital, Inc. | 843.5 | 5 | 168.7 | 8.9% |
| 7 | Cantor Fitzgerald | 638.5 | 3 | 212.8 | 6.7% |
| 8 | B. Riley FBR | 625.3 | 3 | 208.4 | 6.6% |
| 9 | Oppenheimer & Co. | 414.0 | 1 | 414.0 | 4.4% |
| 10 | Citic CLSA | 258.0 | 1 | 258.0 | 2.7% |
| 11 | UBS | 250.0 | 1 | 250.0 | 2.6% |
| 12 | Cowen | 230.0 | 1 | 230.0 | 2.4% |
| 13 | Citigroup | 200.0 | 1 | 200.0 | 2.1% |
| 14 | Dowling & Partners Securities | 172.5 | 1 | 172.5 | 1.8% |
| 15 | Raymond James | 155.3 | 1 | 155.3 | 1.6% |
| 16 | Ladenburg | 115.0 | 1 | 115.0 | 1.2% |
| 17 | CIM Securities | 115.0 | 1 | 115.0 | 1.2% |
Q2 2018
| Rank | Underwriter | Volume ($mm) | Deal Count | Avg. Size ($mm) | % Mkt Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Credit Suisse | 882.5 | 2 | 441.3 | 16.9% |
| 2 | Goldman Sachs | 690.0 | 1 | 690.0 | 13.2% |
| 3 | Chardan | 689.3 | 3 | 229.8 | 13.2% |
| 4 | EarlyBirdCapital, Inc. | 671.0 | 3 | 223.7 | 12.9% |
| 5 | BofA Merrill Lynch | 632.5 | 1 | 632.5 | 12.1% |
| 6 | B. Riley FBR | 500.3 | 2 | 250.1 | 9.6% |
| 7 | Cantor Fitzgerald | 258.0 | 1 | 258.0 | 4.9% |
| 8 | Citic CLSA | 258.0 | 1 | 258.0 | 4.9% |
| 9 | UBS | 250.0 | 1 | 250.0 | 4.8% |
| 10 | Cowen | 230.0 | 1 | 230.0 | 4.4% |
| 11 | Raymond James | 155.3 | 1 | 155.3 | 3.0% |
Q1 2018
| Rank | Underwriter | Volume ($mm) | Deal Count | Avg. Size ($mm) | % Mkt Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Deutsche Bank | 850.0 | 3 | 283.3 | 22.0% |
| 2 | BofA Merrill Lynch | 625.0 | 2 | 312.5 | 16.2% |
| 3 | Goldman Sachs | 525.0 | 2 | 262.5 | 13.6% |
| 4 | Cantor | 380.5 | 2 | 190.3 | 9.9% |
| 5 | Credit Suisse | 300.0 | 1 | 300.0 | 7.8% |
| 6 | Chardan | 287.5 | 2 | 143.8 | 7.4% |
| 7 | Citigroup | 200.0 | 1 | 200.0 | 5.2% |
| 8 | EarlyBirdCapital, Inc. | 172.5 | 2 | 86.3 | 4.5% |
| 9 | Dowling & Partners Securities LLC | 172.5 | 1 | 172.5 | 4.5% |
| 10 | B. Riley FBR | 125.0 | 1 | 125.0 | 3.2% |
| 11 | Ladenburg Thalmann | 111.5 | 1 | 111.5 | 2.9% |
| 12 | CIM Securities | 111.5 | 1 | 111.5 | 2.9% |
Source: SPACInsider, Ranked by volume
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