Financial Deal Insights: Energy & Utilities Review of 2008

Ongoing market developments, particularly in terms of liberalization, have resulted in continued energy sector M&A. Datamonitor's Financial Deal Insights provide a concise yet comprehensive overview of this activity. It offers a unique insight into both deal activity, deal rationale and the market fundamentals driving the sector. This edition provides an overview of key developments in 2008.

Report Highlights
To say that the M&A landscape has been volatile in 2008 would be an understatement. Record highs and 10 year lows in the oil market have been both the catalyst and the coolant acting on the M&A landscape over the past 12 months, in sharply contrasting ways.

The oil price has been the lynchpin factor making upstream players and utilities with strong generation positions cash-rich over the past few years. While the name of the game was to expand generation and gain as strong a hold in upstream positions as possible, as oil prices corrected from $147/b to $44/b, such a scenario has changed radically.

The combining of GdF and Suez, two of Europe's more significant utility market players, in the July merger resulted in a major redrawing of the European energy landscape. The new entity has created an electricity and gas giant with a market capitalization of EUR90bn that is capable of rivalling Germany's E.ON and France's EdF.
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DATAMONITOR VIEW 1
CATALYST 1
SUMMARY 1
ANALYSIS 2
Large national brokers continue to dominate commercial insurance distribution 2
Independent insurance intermediaries of all types retain their leading market share in 2008 2
Direct players account for a small but growing portion of the commercial general insurance market 2
Corporate partnerships have maintained only a small presence in the commercial insurance market 3
Banks and building societies distribute negligible amounts of commercial general insurance 3
The broker channel continues to dominate the SME market with retention levels remaining high 5
Brokers remained the dominant distribution channel to target SMEs in 2008 5
The internet is the least common platform for SMEs purchasing commercial insurance 6
The majority of SMEs remain satisfied with their insurance provider 6
Long standing relationships are important to SMEs purchasing commercial insurance 7
SMEs purchasing their insurance through a bank or a broker value advice from their insurance providers the most 8
Price is important to many SMEs choosing an insurance provider 9
A significant proportion of SMEs are open to purchasing their insurance via the internet or phone 10
The convenience factor of the phone is appealing to many SMEs considering a telephone purchase 10
Many SMEs are unwilling to purchase their insurance over telephone 11
Over a third of SMEs would consider a purchase online 12
Employers' liability and public liability were the most likely products to buy via alternative platforms 13
APPENDIX 15
Definitions 15
Premium income measures 15
Gross Premium 15
Written premiums 15
Distribution definitions 15
Banks/building societies 15
Brokers 15
Company staff 15
Direct 15
'Other' company agents 16
Utilities/retailers/affinity groups 16
Methodology 16
Datamonitor's SME Insurance Survey 16
Further reading 17
Ask the analyst 17
Datamonitor consulting 18
Disclaimer 18
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