Best bank – Den norske Bank
Best debt house – Citigroup
Best equity house – Alfred Berg
Best M&A house – JPMorgan
Best local partner – Orska Enskilda Securities
Den norske Bank is by far the best bank in Norway. It has performed well and kept costs flat. The cost-to-income ratio was 63.7% in the first quarter of 2002 compared with 66.6% in the first quarter this year. The return on equity for the whole of 2002 was 8.6% and 7.6% was reported in the first quarter of 2003.
After leaving Norwegian insurance company Storebrand at the altar last July, DnB completed its dream merger with local savings bank Gjensidge Nor, also known as Union Bank of Norway, in May this year. DnB has integrated the acquisition successfully and analysts say it looks like a good transaction.
The bank is quite clearly the market leader in corporate business in Norway and is also very strong in retail. DnB has done a good job growing its mortgage business, according to analysts, and shrinking its international business.
Debt issuance in Norway has been extremely quiet over the past 12 months and there have been no sovereign issues. However, Citigroup wins the award for best debt house again this year for its strong performance across deals involving Norwegian financial institutions and corporates.
In December last year Citigroup acted as joint bookrunner with Deutsche Bank on the biggest corporate offering in Norway during the past year. The e500 million 10-year issue was Telenor’s debut issue. Citigroup has been stronger in financials than Deutsche Bank. And although CSFB has also been strong in financials it has not been involved in any corporate issuance during the past 12 months. Citigroup was involved in a e750 million deal for Den norske Bank in October, a e100 million transaction for Finansbanken and a $750 million five-year issue for Eksportfinans.
Primary equity market activity in Norway has been pretty subdued over the past 12 months. However, Alfred Berg has the largest market share of the deals that did take place and takes the award for best equity house. The bank acted as sole bookrunner on a $123 million accelerated bookbuild for Norwegian company Orkla. It was also joint bookrunner on two smaller deals, for IT company Merkantildata and engineering contractor DSND. It has also been active on the local stock exchange with over 5% market share. Merrill Lynch and Nordea Securities have also been strong in this category.
Although Norwegian bank DnB Markets has done extremely well this year in M&A, its league table ranking has been boosted by its involvement in DnB’s own acquisition of Norwegian savings bank Gjensidge Nor.
JPMorgan, which takes the award for best M&A house, was chosen, along with CSFB and Carnegie, to advise DnB on the $2.5 billion acquisition, the largest in the region during the past 12 months. JPMorgan was sole adviser to Norwegian shipping company Navion in its acquisition by Teekay Shipping Corporation. The bank has also been involved in several smaller deals.
It is difficult to chose between Carnegie and Orska Enskilda Securities for the award for best local partner as both have done well. Carnegie was a co-advisor to DnB in its acquisition of Gjensidge Nor and was very involved in advising World Nordic in its acquisition of Bergesen. However, World Nordic is not Norwegian, while Bergesen is and it was advised by Orkla Enskilda Securities. Enskilda has also been involved in the most M&A deals in Norway and has advised on transactions such as Bergesen/World Nordic, Aker/Kværner and Elkem/Sapa.
