Best bank:
Danske Bank
Best debt house:
ABN AMRO
Best equity house:
Alfred Berg
Best M&A house:
Carnegie
Danske Bank, Denmark’s largest bank, boasts the strongest franchise in its home market and consolidated its position in early 2000 with its acquisition of RealDanmark, a move from which the group has now realized substantial cost synergies. In 2000 Danske held total assets of DKr1,363 billion ($157.6 billion), with core earnings of DKr9,145 billion, a 49% increase on 1999’s figures.
Danske continues to dominate in Denmark’s retail banking sector. It has a market share of about 37%, confirming its position as the largest retail bank in Denmark, with customers served by an extensive network of branches and corporate centres. The bank is seeking to expand its operations outside Denmark, and now has some three million retail customers in the Nordic region. The challenge it faces is to maintain this position against competition from such rivals as Sydbank, which are gaining ground, partly because of the impressive level of customer service they offer. The acquisition of RealDanmark has helped Danske to increase its coverage and broaden and improve the range of services and products it offers.
Danske’s income is split equally between retail and wholesale activities. Danske Securities has continued to hold its own in the Danish equity market, though it has so far found it difficult to become a true pan-Nordic player. Danske offers asset management and brokerage services to clients and is among the leading players in asset gathering, M&A and corporate finance.
ABN AMRO scoops the award for best debt house in Denmark. The bank was number one by market share and value in the past 12 months, with a share of almost 15% of new issues worth some e1.5 billion ($1,3 billion), a considerable lead over its nearest challenger, Goldman Sachs. Of particular note was an issue of $300 million for the Kingdom of Denmark and two Finance for Danish Industry issues worth $500 million and e600 million ($516 million).
The first of these was a five-year floating rate note for which ABN AMRO achieved a very wide distribution geographically. Almost a third of investors came from the UK, with the rest divided among 11 countries including the predictable, such as the US and Japan, and the more unexpected, Ireland, Portugal and the UAE, for example.
ABN AMRO has also recently arranged a e100 million ($86 million)tier II floating rate note for Denmark’s fourth-largest bank, Sydbank. The deal again attracted interest from a wide range of nations, with the bulk of the issue being taken up by Spanish and Italian investors.
The award for best equity house in Denmark goes to Alfred Berg, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of ABN AMRO. It has had an impressive year in Denmark’s equity market, capturing a 13% market share for 2000 as a whole, achieving equal first place among institutional investors. Its position as a subsidiary of ABN has allows it to wield much greater power in the market through its capacity to commit capital jointly with its parent.
Alfred Berg draws extensively on its local knowledge in the Nordic market as a whole and Denmark in particular. It enjoys a good reputation for high-quality research and has a distinguished track record as an adviser and lead manager. Alfred Berg’s large team of locally based analysts delivers company, sector, strategy and macroeconomic reports. This research is consistently ranked first in international surveys. Major deals in the past year included the lead management of a DKr1.8 billion ($208 million) secondary offering of shares for Group 4 Falck and a DKr759 million IPO for RTX Telecom.
In M&A, Carnegie has been the outstanding player of the past year. The house tops the Danish league table for deals advised on in the past 12 months, having acted as target adviser on a total of eight deals with a combined value of $5.3 billion. Most of the deals that Carnegie has undertaken have involved Danish bidders targeting Danish companies, a reflection of the high esteem in which Carnegie is held by Danish corporates. Among the deals, of greatest importance was the acquisition of RealDanmark by Danske Bank, the biggest deal of the year in Denmark and one that had a resounding impact on the banking sector. Carnegie Fondkomission acted as adviser to the target, in conjunction with Goldman Sachs.
