REGIONAL WINNERS
North America
Investment Bank
J.P. Morgan
J.P. Morgan reported net revenue from investment banking of $8.3 billion in the first quarter of 2010. The bank not only led in debt and equity underwriting worldwide, as well as in the US, but it also chalked up gains in market making activities. The bank’s top executives said the investment banking business was strong across all regions and asset classes.
Equity Bank
J.P. Morgan
J.P. Morgan topped the US league tables for equity and equity-related underwriting in 2009, leading 202 deals with total proceeds of $33 billion. J.P. Morgan’s acquisition of Bear Stearns in March 2008 has helped it to increase its market share of investment banking revenues in equity as well as fixed-income markets.
Debt Bank
J.P. Morgan
J.P. Morgan was the number-one bookrunner for investment-grade corporate debt in the US last year. The bank led 331 deals valued at a total of $94.6 billion, giving it a 13.3% market share, according to Thomson Reuters. Revenue from the bank’s fixed-income markets business totaled $5.5 billion in the first quarter of this year, and very little came from proprietary trading.
M&A; Bank
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley was financial adviser on many of the landmark M&A; deals of 2009. The firm advised Wyeth on its acquisition by Pfizer, in a transaction valued at $64.5 billion. Morgan Stanley also advised Dell on its acquisition of Perot Systems. In February 2010 Morgan Stanley advised FirstEnergy on its $9 billion acquisition of Allegheny Energy. The firm currently is advising Continental on its $6.2 billion merger with United Airlines. “2010 will be a good but not great year for M&A;,” says Robert Kindler, vice chairman and global head of mergers and acquisitions. “We will see larger merger-of-equals with the focus on synergies, as opposed to last year when all corporations were focused on fixing their balance sheets.”
Western Europe
Investment Bank
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank’s profits in its corporate and investment bank rose to a record $3.5 billion in the first quarter of 2010. The bank advised on some of the biggest mergers of 2009, including Kraft Foods on its acquisition of Cadbury, and Swiss mining group Xstrata on its pursuit of Anglo American. Deutsche Bank was the only European bank selected as a lead manager on Agricultural Bank of China’s planned $29 billion IPO.
Equity Bank
J.P. Morgan
J.P. Morgan was the top underwriter of equity offerings in Europe last year. The bank was a lead manager of the $22.5 billion Lloyds Banking Group rights issue, which was the largest offering in the region in 2009. J.P. Morgan led 97 equity deals, valued at $47.8 billion, in Europe, the Middle East and Africa last year, giving it an 18% market share, according to Thomson Reuters.
Debt Bank
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank was a top-three underwriter of corporate debt worldwide last year in both the investment-grade and high-yield sectors. It was number one in Group of Three currency (dollar, euro and yen) bonds in Asia last year. The bank is a leading participant in government and corporate bonds, structured credit instruments and derivatives.
M&A; Bank
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley advised on 137 M&A; deals in Europe last year, with a total value of more than $291 billion, topping Thomson Reuters’ league tables. The firm advised UK-based Rio Tinto on its $58 billion joint venture with BHP Billiton, which was the largest European deal announced in 2009. Morgan Stanley also advised Cadbury on its $19.3 billion acquisition by Kraft.
Asia
Investment Bank
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley has a big investment banking business in China and India, as well as strong operations in Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. The firm recently announced a securities joint venture with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. In July 2009 Morgan Stanley received a primary dealership license in India.
Equity Bank
UBS Investment Bank
UBS Investment Bank led equity offerings in 11 markets across Asia in the past year, more than any other bank. It completed more than 30 deals in China alone. UBS was sole global coordinator for China Minsheng Bank’s $4 billion IPO in November 2009, which was the largest Hong Kong listing of last year.
Debt Bank
Nomura
Nomura raised more than $5 billion of equity capital in October 2009 to fund the expansion of its business. Following its acquisition of parts of the business of Lehman Brothers a year earlier, it has become a more aggressive international participant in the debt capital markets.
M&A; Bank
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley topped the M&A; league tables in Asia last year by advising on 69 deals valued at a total of $36.4 billion, according to Thomson Reuters. Morgan Stanley is seeking to sell its 34.3% stake in joint-venture investment bank China International Capital and to create a new venture in China in which it would have greater influence.
Latin America
Investment Bank
Citi
Citi is the leading investment bank in Latin America, where it has an unmatched presence in 24 countries. The bank completed more than $9.7 billion in debt transactions in the region in 2009 and participated in the largest follow-on equity offerings, including the $1.9 billion Cemex issue, the biggest stock issue in Mexico in years. Citi also advises more borrowers in more countries in Latin America than any other bank.
Equity Bank
Citi
Citi was global coordinator and bookrunner on the $1.9 billion global offering of participation certificates and American depositary receipts for Mexico-based Cemex in September 2009. Citi also was bookrunner on Brazilian payment system Redecard’s $977 million follow-on offering.
Debt Bank
Citi
Citi led the $2.3 billion acquisition finance deal for Grupo Bimbo, Mexico’s largest food company, which purchased US-based Weston Foods. Citi also led the refinancing of the entire bank debt of Cemex, the biggest cement producer in the Americas. Citi led in volume terms last year for all international bond deals in Latin America and the Caribbean region.
M&A; Bank
BTG Pactual
São Paulo-based BTG Pactual is the largest investment bank based in an emerging market. It was formed in 2009 from BTG Investment’s takeover of UBS Pactual. André Esteves, former CEO of Banco Pactual, founded BTG Investments in 2008, two years after Pactual was sold to UBS.
Central & Eastern Europe
Investment Bank
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
BAML is the leading investment bank in the CEE region, with particular strength in Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic. In June 2009 it was joint bookrunner on the second-ever Russian concurrent convertible bond and equity placement, a $440 million transaction for Alliance Oil that included Swedish depositary receipts.
Equity Bank
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
BAML has a local network and distribution capabilities across the CEE. The combination of BofA with Merrill Lynch created an equity bank with diverse capabilities in the region. Its equity platform provides full services for equities, derivatives and convertibles, as well as prime brokerage and electronic execution. BAML led or worked on all of the important transactions in the region last year.
Debt Bank
J.P. Morgan
J.P. Morgan is the number-one managing underwriter of emerging market bonds in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region. In 2009 it advised on 10 such issues with total proceeds of more than $4 billion. The US-based bank maintained its momentum in the first quarter of 2010, when it added another $2.24 billion of proceeds to its emerging market bond issuance in the region.
M&A; Bank
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
BAML offers financial advisory services in CEE as a core part of its business. Merrill Lynch has long been a leading financial adviser on the biggest M&A; deals in Russia, especially in the energy sector. In April 2009 it advised Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Gazprom, on its sale of a 20% stake to its parent, in a privately negotiated transaction.
Nordic
Investment Bank
Handelsbanken Capital Markets
Handelsbanken Capital Markets, the leading investment bank in the Nordic countries, expects a strong recovery in M&A; in the region. “In spite of the stock market’s recovery, valuations are still attractive compared to historical levels,” says Per Beckman, head of Handelsbanken Capital Markets. “Companies have large cash reserves which can be deployed, and strong share prices provide a good M&A; currency.” Handelsbanken remained profitable throughout the global financial crisis and required no help from the government.
Equity Bank
Handelsbanken Capital Markets
Handelsbanken is the leading bank in initial public offerings in the Nordic region. It is also Sweden’s leading stockbroker and offers online research for institutional customers. Nasdaq OMX Helsinki in April 2010 began trading 20 new exchange-traded notes issued by Handelsbanken that track the new OMX Helsinki 15 index, the Nordic electricity price and a range of products linked to commodities, currencies and stocks.
Debt Bank
DnB NOR
DnB NOR Markets is the investment banking arm of DnB NOR, Norway’s largest bank. It is active in the shipping and energy markets. DnB NOR recently issued a €2 billion ($2.6 billion) benchmark covered bond backed by Norwegian residential mortgages.
M&A; Bank
Rothschild
Rothschild was the top financial adviser in 2009 on mergers and acquisitions involving companies based in the Nordic region. The bank advised on 14 such deals valued at a total of $21.3 billion. Rothschild advised Stockholm-based Vattenfall on its $10.9 billion acquisition of Netherlands-based Nuon Energy.
Middle East
Investment Bank
SambaCapital
SambaCapital, a subsidiary of Riyadh-based Samba Financial Group, began operations on January 1, 2008. In July 2008 SambaCapital was the lead adviser on mining company Maaden’s $2.5 billion initial public offering. It was also the lead manager of two of the largest sukuk (Islamic bond) offerings last year in Saudi Arabia.
Equity Bank
SambaCapital
SambaCapital is the market leader in equity offerings in the region. Listed companies in Saudi Arabia are worth about $320 billion, equal to the remaining Gulf Cooperation Council markets combined. SambaCapital has expertise in the oil and gas and petrochemical industries, as well as a range of manufacturing industries.
Debt Bank
HSBC
HSBC Saudi Arabia is a joint venture with Riyadh-based SABB. HSBC has the biggest local presence across the region of any international bank. HSBC Amanah, the bank’s Islamic banking division, led the first riyal sukuk, a $1.3 billion Islamic bond, for Sabic in 2008. State-owned Saudi Electricity recently appointed HSBC and SambaCapital as lead arrangers for its $1.9 billion sukuk.
M&A; Bank
UBS Investment Bank
UBS offers full M&A; services from its offices in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. It specializes in complex cross-border transactions. UBS was sole adviser to Kuwait-based Zain Telecom on the potential sale of its African business to Bharti Airtel, the largest mobile phone company in India.
Africa
Investment Bank
Standard Bank
South Africa-based Standard Bank has a 17-nation pan-African network that provides corporate and investment banking services to local and multinational corporations. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) acquired a 20.1% stake in Standard Bank in 2008. Standard Bank and ICBC were joint lead arrangers of a $1.6 billion debt financing for the Morupule B power station expansion project in Botswana.
Equity Bank
RMB Morgan Stanley
A joint venture between South Africa-based Rand Merchant Bank and Morgan Stanley, RMB Morgan Stanley combines Morgan Stanley’s global distribution channels with RMB’s long-term relationships with South Africa-based corporations.
Debt Bank
Standard Bank
Standard Bank is the leading arranger of local currency debt in Africa. Earlier this year it privately placed a total of $100 million of two-, three- and four-year bonds for Mercedes-Benz South Africa. Standard Bank also was sole lead manager of a $275 million, 15-year bond for the City of Cape Town.
M&A; Bank
J.P. Morgan
J.P. Morgan is a leading financial advisory firm in sub-Saharan Africa, where it has a significant local presence. The firm was the number-one financial adviser on mergers and acquisitions involving South Africa-based companies in 2009.
