Best bank – Commercial International Bank
Best local partner – National Société Générale Bank
Best debt house – Citigroup
Best equity house – EFG-Hermes
Best M&A house – EFG-Hermes
Commercial International Bank has maintained its standing as the pre-eminent corporate bank in Egypt. While the four dominant state banks are still creaking under the weight of massive non-performing loans and many corporates are burdened by the poor state of the economy, CIB has managed to maintain a sound balance sheet. Despite increased competition from the foreign and joint-venture banks, CIB is still widely regarded by both foreign and domestic corporates as the best bank in Egypt.
National Société Générale Bank takes the award for best local partner. Now majority owned by Société Générale, NSGB has carved out a niche for itself as the top speciality finance bank in Egypt by working on several project, acquisition, structured, leasing, and trade finance deals over the past 12 months. NSGB was the sole arranger for the financing of Egyptian Glass Company’s E£270 million ($45 million) privatization in June 2002, one of the biggest deals in Egypt over the past 12 months.
The bank really stood out in 2002 by making record profits, at a time when most other banks were losing money.
Citigroup, though by no means the biggest lender in Egypt, earns itself the title of best debt house mainly because of its work in arranging the largest ever domestic corporate bond issue in November 2002. The E£1 billion deal for Egyptian Cement Company, part of the Orascom conglomerate, is seen as a milestone in the development of the local corporate bond market.
Citigroup was also active in the syndicated loan market, where it participated as a mandated arranger for National Bank of Egypt’s $300 million loan in May 2002.
Egyptian investment bank EFG-Hermes wins both the best equity house and best M&A house awards this year. EFG-Hermes is a leading broker on the Cairo and Alexandria exchanges and for Egyptian GDRs and is well regarded for its research and indices.
In a busy year for M&A in Egypt, EFG-Hermes was involved in nearly all the biggest deals, advising bidders and targets and local and foreign corporates. Major deals included advising Al Ahram Beverage Company on its $287 million acquisition by Heineken, and Kraft Foods on its acquisition of Family Nutrition Co, an Egyptian food company.
Up-and-coming Sigma Capital was also active in both categories but missed out on the largest deals.
