Tech and telecoms trigger M&A rebound A single deal has lifted the mood of investment bankers this year. Verizon's $124bn buyout of Vodafone's stake in their US wireless joint venture has helped to generate a year-on-year increase in global mergers and acquisitions and put dealmakers on track for their best year since 2008. The value of announced M&A has reached $1.57tn, up 4.6 per cent in the first nine months, from $1.5tn for the same period last year, according to Mergermarket. It was only in early September that 2013"s deal haul overtook last year's tally. Some bankers describe a revival in telecom, media and technology (TMT) sector dealmaking as reminiscent of the 1999 dotcom boom. Global M&A volumes Number of deals and adviser rankings Dealmaking in the sector has reached a six-year high, with seven of the top 10 deals this year emanating from the sector. Until recently companies have not been penalised for delaying big M&A moves. However, without a strong economic recovery in the US and Europe, companies are expected to face pressure from investors to find sources of revenue growth. "Companies are realising now they will have to start delivering on material growth for 2014," said Chris Ventresca, global co-head of M&A at JPMorgan Chase. However, without the Verizon deal, the value of M&A so far this year would have been down almost 4 per cent. While we've seen strong activity in the third quarter, when you look at the full year numbers, the run rate is still flat. The difference is that the tone is definitely better," said Gregg Lemkau, global co-head of M&A at Goldman Sachs. The equity market has reacted positively to the large strategic deals we've seen, resulting in a discernible increase in companies exploring more strategic activity. Growing boardroom confidence has been reflected in rising quarter-on-quarter M&A numbers in 2013 and average deal sizes hitting their highest levels since before the credit crisis. "Many core consumer-facing companies have built strong balance sheets through the crisis and there is increasing confidence that now is the time to start looking at M&A as a potential driver of growth," said William Vereker, head of corporate client solutions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa at UBS. With a tapering of Federal Reserve monetary stimulus looming, companies have shifted their concerns to the long term availability of cheap money for dealmaking, away from direction of the macroeconomy. There is real momentum building. The obvious, long rumoured deals are going to happen as the threat of a rise in interest rates remains ever present," said Philip Noblet, co-head of Emea M&A at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Boosted by Verizon's record breaking $49bn bond issue to fund its deal with Vodafone, investment banks generated the most fees from debt sales since 2007. Total investment banking fees across M&A, debt and equity capital markets have reached $52.5bn, a 3 per cent increase over the same period in 2012, according to Thomson Reuters, boosted by particularly strong rise of 22 per cent in fees from equity issuance. While European banks" share of the fee pool fell to their lowest levels since records began in 2000, some bankers highlight a new positivity in the region, where M&A rose 3.6 per cent, with $472bn of announced deals. The year should match 2012"s total but if it exceeds it, it would be the region's best year for M&A since 2008. "We expect to see a regular flow of deals being announced during the rest of the year," said Henrik Aslaksen, co-head of global investment banking coverage and advisory at Deutsche Bank.