By Michael Shari
DEALS OF THE YEAR
BEST EQUITY DEAL
Glencore International $10.1 billion IPO
Lead Manager: Citi
Global Bookrunners: Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas
In Europe’s largest IPO since 1999, Glencore International of Switzerland raised $10.05 billion on May 11. The deal was substantially oversubscribed and priced within its price range. Glencore, which produces, refines, finances and supplies commodities to manufacturers, was fast-tracked into the FTSE 100 Index at a time when commodity prices were soaring. “Early engagement with investors played a critical role in the transaction’s success.
BEST DEBT DEAL
Nationwide Building Society $19.9 billion MBS
Joint Lead Managers: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, JPMorgan, UBS, Nationwide Building Society
Nationwide Building Society issued $19.9 billion in mortgage-backed securities (Silverstone Master Issuer plc Series 2011-1) on October 11. The deal worked because the bonds were backed by prime residential mortgages at a time when such relatively safe securities were in short supply in the US, where investor demand was still strong, according to a report by Morningstar, a financial research firm in Chicago. It was also seen as safely out of reach of the volatility of the eurozone’s bond market. As a result, the Nationwide deal was more than twice the size of the second-largest bond offering last year, which was a Fannie Mae MBS issued in the US.
BEST M&A DEAL
Kinder Morgan/El Paso Corporation
Advising Target: Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs
Advising Acquirer: Evercore Partners, Barclays Capital
Kinder Morgan acquired energy giant El Paso Corporation for $37.9 billion on October 16, 2011, creating the single largest midstream energy company in North America. It processes oil and gas products and transports them to production facilities, owning and operating 67,000 miles of pipelines from coast to coast. After conflict-of-interest allegations were defeated in a Delaware court, the historic deal was seen as a positive sign for the future of natural gas. Tim LaLonde, global COO of investment banking at Evercore Partners, which together with Barclays Capital advised Kinder on the acquisition, calls it “our most successful announced M&A deal this year” and notes that it “is one which makes great strategic sense.”
Best Investment Banks 2012
