Best bank
Hansabank Best debt house
HSH Nordbank
Best equities house
Hansabank Markets
Best M&A house
Hansabank
Hansabank has a 53% share of the lending market and 57% of the deposit market, compared with SEB-owned Eesti Ühispank?s 35% of lending and 28% of total deposits.
Hansabank is in all three Baltic republics, with most of its assets generated in Estonia. Its assets in Estonia increased by 60%, and it has a cost/income ratio of 49.29%. Hansabank was upgraded by Fitch Ratings to a single-A rating in April.
HSH Nordbank wins best debt house for its project finance and real-estate finance activity. It acted as sole lead arranger for a six-year syndicated loan for shipping company Tallink. It also acted as sole lead arranger for e42 million in real-estate finance for Hotel Viru. The firm was also a lead arranger in the e25 million facility for Sampo Bank Estonia. This was the first syndicated loan on the international capital market for an Estonian bank in more than three years.
There was little primary equity market activity. Hansabank Markets, which takes the best equities house award, advised Estonian women?s apparel producer Klementi on the listing of its additional shares on Tallinn stock exchange. This was the only public equity placement during the period. It also advised Estonia?s second-biggest road construction company, Teede REV-2, on a e3.6 million private placement of existing shares. This company will be listed by Hansabank later this year.
Turnover on the Tallinn stock exchange reached e2.1 billion, compared with e1.3 billion for the previous year. Hansabank handled the highest share of this.
Hansabank also wins the M&A award. The largest transaction was Ober Haus Group?s sale of shopping centres for e38 million. Hansabank assisted in the financing for the transaction and Mornington Capital acted as placing agent. Hansabank also advised an investor group on its buy-out of Klementi in a e3.2 million deal.
