Xstrata-Anglo lifts Goldman, D.Bank in M&A tables

By Quentin Webb

LONDON, July 2 (Reuters) - Xstrata's unwanted approach to rival miner Anglo American led to a late reordering of the world's top mergers advisers in the first half, restoring Anglo adviser Goldman Sachs to the No.1 spot above Morgan Stanley.

Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), Lazard (LAZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research), and UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research), who are also advising on the suggested stock-for-stock deal, also climbed in the final first-half league tables from Thomson Reuters, compared to preliminary data released last week.

The shifts highlight the impact a mandate on a single mega-deal can have on rankings in the prestigious mergers and acquisitions (M&A) tables -- and also the continued importance of mining deals to investment bankers.

Overall the final data showed announced M&A fell 40.2 percent, compared with the same period in 2008, to $941 billion, marking the slowest first half since 2004.

Thomson Reuters ranks Xstrata's proposal -- which Anglo says lacks "strategic merit" and has "totally unacceptable terms" -- as the first half's fourth-largest deal. It classifies it as a $42.5 billion "intended" deal.

That helped Goldman (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) regain first place for announced mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advice, which it held in the first half of last year, as it worked on $343.1 billion of deals. Morgan Stanley (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research), not an adviser on the deal, slipped to second by deal value with $331.1 billion of work.

Fellow Anglo (AAL.L: Quote, Profile, Research) adviser UBS rose to 8th from 9th in the preliminary data. Among Xstrata's (XTA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) advisers, JPMorgan (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) remained in third place, Deutsche Bank gained two places to fourth, and Lazard rose one place to seventh.

If a deal is eventually struck despite Anglo's rebuff, it could yield further mandates in M&A and equity capital markets for Xstrata's advisers, even though as a stock-for-stock deal it would not require debt financing.

In a letter to Anglo, Xstrata said a combined group would "immediately be able to access equity markets to raise further capital" and could potentially sell non-core assets or seek joint-venture partners to raise extra liquidity.

Rio Tinto's (RIO.AX: Quote, Profile, Research) (RIO.L: Quote, Profile, Research) long-running takeover tussle with BHP Billiton (BLT.L: Quote, Profile, Research) (BHP.AX: Quote, Profile, Research), and abortive link-up with China's Chinalco, involved a slew of banks. Seven of Rio's banks are now working on its $15 billion rights issue, for which Rio is paying about $430 million in fees. (Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)