2024 China M&A Deals Ranking

In 2024, under the common influence of sustained global economic recovery, domestic economic structural adjustment, and the continuous introduction of new policies, China's mergers and acquisitions market has shown a diverse development trend. With the release of the "Six Measures for Mergers and Acquisitions," the first half of the year saw a low point in merger and acquisition transactions in the capital market, but with the introduction of the "Six Measures for Mergers and Acquisitions," comprehensive policy support further released market vitality, and merger and acquisition activity continued to increase. In 2024, the total amount of mergers and acquisitions transactions in the Chinese market slightly increased by about 32.1 billion yuan compared to 2023, breaking the trend of declining merger and acquisition scale for two consecutive years. According to Wind data, in 2024, China's mergers and acquisitions market (including Chinese companies' cross-border mergers and acquisitions) disclosed a total of 8,378 merger and acquisition events, a decrease of 5.60% year-on-year; the transaction size was approximately 2,016.3 billion yuan, an increase of about 1.61% year-on-year. There were 28 merger and acquisition events with a size of over 10 billion yuan. The event of China CSSC absorbing and merging China Shipbuilding Industry ranked first with a transaction size of 115.15 billion yuan; the event of Guotai Junan absorbing and merging Haitong ranked second with a transaction size of 97.15 billion yuan; and the event of Dalian Xindamei, a subsidiary of Wanda, introducing new strategic investors ranked third with a transaction size of 60 billion yuan. In terms of the scale of financial advisors participating in merger and acquisition events, using the announcement date of the merger and acquisition event as the statistical basis, CITIC SEC ranked first with a total transaction value of 329.24 billion yuan, CICC and China Securities Co., Ltd. ranked second and third with 193.66 billion yuan and 186.59 billion yuan respectively. Using the completion date of the merger and acquisition transaction as the statistical basis, CITIC SEC ranked first with 152.75 billion yuan, CICC and China Securities Co., Ltd. ranked second and third with 71.74 billion yuan and 20.43 billion yuan respectively. (Note: This ranking includes domestic mergers and acquisitions of Chinese enterprises, outbound mergers and acquisitions, inbound mergers and acquisitions, and excludes failed events.) Overview of Mergers and Acquisitions Market 1.1 Mergers and Acquisitions Market Size Statistics In the whole year of 2024, there were a total of 8,378 merger and acquisition events in the Chinese mergers and acquisitions market, a decrease of 5.60% year-on-year; the transaction size was approximately 2,016.3 billion yuan, an increase of about 1.61% year-on-year. By quarter, the merger and acquisition transaction sizes in each quarter of 2024 were 360.2 billion yuan, 423.9 billion yuan, 694.2 billion yuan, and 538 billion yuan respectively. (Note: Events in this chapter are based on the announcement date, excluding failed events.)Equity financingTransaction amount: 600.00 billion RMB Financial advisor to the target: CICC No.4 CITIC FAMC acquires equity of CITIC, Bank of China, and China Everbright Bank Buyer: CITIC FAMC; China BEST Finance Target: CITIC 4.88% equity; Bank of China partial equity; China Everbright Bank partial equity Seller: ICBC Credit Suisse Fund; ICBC Credit Suisse Asset (International); Bosera Fund; Bosera Fund (International); Da Cheng Fund; Da Cheng International Asset Mergers and Acquisitions Method: Acquisition by agreement Transaction amount: 412.66 billion RMB Buyer financial advisor: CITIC SEC; China Securities Co.,Ltd. No.5 Guolian acquires Minsheng Securities Buyer: Guolian Target: Minsheng Securities 99.26% equity Seller: Guolian Group, Shanghai Fengquanyu Enterprise Management Co., Ltd. and 45 other Minsheng Securities shareholders Mergers and Acquisitions Method: Issuance of shares to purchase assets Transaction amount: 294.92 billion RMB Buyer's independent financial advisor: Huatai Joint No.6 China Fortune Land Development subsidiary sells 100% equity of Yunuo Jin and 11 company debts Buyer: Ping An Life; Ping An Asset Management; Other creditors Target: Yunuo Jin 100% equity; Debts of 11 target project companies Seller: China Fortune Land Development (Gu'an) Information Consulting Service Co., Ltd. Mergers and Acquisitions Method: Acquisition by agreement Transaction amount: 255.85 billion RMB Seller's independent financial advisor: Daiwa Securities (China) No.7 Shaanxi Coal Industry acquires Shaanxi Coal and Electricity Group Buyer: Shaanxi Coal Industry Target: Shaanxi Coal and Electricity Group 88.6525% equity Seller: Shaanxi Coal Industry Chemical Group Mergers and Acquisitions Method: Acquisition by agreement Transaction amount: 156.95 billion RMB No.8 Yaoxiu Bio acquires 36.67% equity of Cathay Biotech Inc. Buyer: Shanghai Yaoxiu Bio-technology Partnership Enterprise (Limited Partnership) Target: Cathay Biotech Inc. 36.67% equity Seller: Cathay Biotech Inc. Mergers and Acquisitions Method: Acquisition of newly issued shares of a public company; Acquisition by agreement Transaction amount: 136.08 billion RMB Buyer financial advisor: CITIC SEC No.9 Taifusteel acquires 55.25% equity of Nangang Group Buyer: Taifusteel (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. Target: Nangang Group 55.25% equity Seller: Hubei Xinye Steel Co., Ltd. Mergers and Acquisitions Method: Acquisition by agreement Transaction amount: 136.00 billion RMB Buyer financial advisor: CITIC SEC No.10 China Salt Lake Industrial Group acquires 12.54% equity of Qinghai Salt Lake Industry Buyer: China Salt Lake Industrial Group Co., Ltd. Target: Qinghai Salt Lake Industry 12.54% equity Seller: Wuhu Xinzeqing Investment Management Partnership Enterprise (Limited Partnership); Qinghai Guotou Mergers and Acquisitions Method: Other acquisition methods Transaction amount: 135.58 billion RMB Buyer financial advisor: CICC Intermediary Rankings 3.1 Financial Advisor Rankings 3.1.1 Financial Advisor Rankings for M&A Business in China In terms of the size of M&A transactions in which financial advisors or independent financial advisors were involved, according to the statistics based on the first announcement date in 2024, CITIC SEC ranked first with a transaction size of 329.24 billion RMB; CICC ranked second with a transaction size of 193.66 billion RMB; China Securities Co.,Ltd. ranked third with a transaction size of 186.59 billion RMB. According to the statistics based on the completion date of M&A transactions, CITIC SEC ranked first with a transaction size of 152.07 billion RMB; CICC ranked second with a transaction size of 71.17 billion RMB; China Securities Co.,Ltd. ranked third with a transaction size of 12.04 billion RMB. 3.1.2 Financial Advisor Rankings for Major Asset Restructuring In terms of the size of major asset restructuring events in which institutions served as financial advisors or independent financial advisors, according to the statistics based on the first announcement date in 2024, China Securities Co.,Ltd. ranked first with a transaction size of 137.29 billion RMB; CITIC SEC and Orient ranked second and third with transaction sizes of 124.96 billion RMB and 104.17 billion RMB, respectively. According to the statistics based on the completion date of major asset restructuring events, CITIC SEC ranked first with a transaction size of 17.63 billion RMB; CMSC ranked second with a transaction size of 10.90 billion RMB; Guosen ranked third with a transaction size of 10.15 billion RMB. 3.2 Law Firm Rankings In terms of the size of M&A transactions in which law firms participated, according to the statistics based on the first announcement date in 2024, Jiayuan Law Firm ranked first with a transaction size of 150.41 billion RMB; Jintiancheng Law Firm ranked second with a transaction size of 142.16 billion RMB; Guohao Law Firm ranked third with a transaction size of 99.08 billion RMB.According to the completion date caliber statistics, Guofeng Law Firm ranked first with a transaction volume of 124.12 billion yuan; Deheng Law Firm and Zhong Lun Law Firm ranked second and third with transaction volumes of 121.41 billion yuan and 96.04 billion yuan respectively.3.3 Ranking of Accounting Firms In terms of the size of M&A events in which accounting firms participated, based on the caliber of events announced for the first time in 2024, the top-ranking firm was Ernst & Young, with a transaction size of 158.88 billion yuan; ranked second was KPMG, with a transaction size of 106.76 billion yuan; and ranked third was PwC, with a transaction size of 67.46 billion yuan. According to the caliber of events completed on the M&A event completion date, the top-ranking firm was Tianjian Accounting Firm, with a transaction size of 32.18 billion yuan; the second-ranking was Ernst & Young, with a transaction size of 27.66 billion yuan; and the third-ranking was Talent International Accounting Firm, with a transaction size of 26.65 billion yuan. 3.4 Ranking of Asset Valuation Agencies In terms of the size of M&A events in which asset valuation agencies participated, based on the caliber of events announced for the first time in 2024, Zhonglian Appraisal ranked first with a transaction size of 101.58 billion yuan, with Zhongqi Hua Appraisal and Tianjian Xingye Appraisal ranking second and third with transaction sizes of 73.16 billion yuan and 51.25 billion yuan respectively. Based on the caliber of events completed on the M&A event completion date, Zhonglian Appraisal ranked first with a transaction size of 59.35 billion yuan, Tianjian Xingye Appraisal ranked second with a transaction size of 30.58 billion yuan, and Zhongqi Hua Appraisal ranked third with a transaction size of 27.06 billion yuan. This article is translated from "Wind Wealth" WeChat public account, GMTEight editor: Liu Xuan.