Best bank
DnB NOR Best debt house
Deutsche Bank
Best equities house
Enskilda Securities
Best M&A house
CSFB
DnB NOR, the best bank, is the largest financial services group in Norway, with NKr1,200 billion ($173.6 billion) in total assets. The bank is the result of the merger between Den norske Bank and Gjensidige NOR (Union Bank of Norway). DnB NOR has 37% market share in lending to SMEs and 38% of lending to the retail market and it is Norway?s largest capital markets operation.
In the first results since the merger, DnB posted NKr1.5 billion in profits, compared with NKr1 billion in the first quarter of 2003.
Although Deutsche Bank doesn?t have the highest market share in the primary debt market, it wins best debt house for its strong market share and its involvement in deals for a more diversified client base. The bank was involved in several innovative bond deals for corporates, as well as government agencies.
Deutsche structured the first ever target redemption note, a $12.2 million notional note for Exportfinans. It was sole adviser to the government agency on its inaugural Singapore dollar issue. It also advised Norske Skog on the region?s first 30-year bond to be issued by a Baa3/BBB- rated company. In the loan market, it was joint manager with Citigroup and JPMorgan on Telenor?s e1.5 billion loan.
Citigroup was also involved in the $500 million 10-year issue by Statoil, a $750 million demerger financing loan for Yara and liability management for Hydro.
Norway was by far the most active IPO market in the region. Goldman Sachs had the highest market share because of its roles as joint bookrunner in the Findexa IPO and sole bookrunner on a bought deal for Telenor. While the Findexa deal is the first time a European company has used this particular structure, the bankers had a difficult time launching the deal. This was partly because of market conditions and partly a result of investor concern about the structure. In the end the deal got away a week later than scheduled but at a price lower than the original range indicated and the number of shares offered was cut.
The Telenor deal also came under criticism for aggressive pricing and the bank was not able to get all of it out of the door.
Lehman Brothers was involved in two notable deals that also involved Telenor. It was sole bookrunner when the Norwegian government sold a further 13.9% of Telenor for $1.02 billion. In February it advised Telenor when it sold 29.7 million shares in Cosmote for e362 million.
However, Enskilda Securities wins best equities house for its involvement in primary equity market deals and strength in the secondary market. It was joint bookrunner for the NKr2 billion Aker Kværner IPO and was sole bookrunner for Prosafe?s NKr446 million secondary placement. The firm was also joint bookrunner for several other IPOs, including Catch Communications, Opera Software, Mamut and Norwegian Air Shuttle, as well as additional secondary issues and directed issues.
CSFB, best M&A house, had the highest market share. It advised Norske Hydro on the demerger of its fertilizer business, Yara International. CSFB also advised power producer Eastern Norge Svartisen when it was bought by Finnish energy distributors for e180 million, and the Norwegian government when it increased its stake in the merged DnB NOR for $268 million. CSFB also advised Telenor in its acquisition of the remaining stake in Sonofon.
