BEST BANK
SEB Vilniaus Bankas
BEST DEBT HOUSE
SEB Vilniaus Bankas
BEST EQUITY HOUSE
SEB Vilniaus Bankas
BEST M&A HOUSE
SEB Vilfima
Vilniaus Bankas, which changed its name to SEB Vilniaus Bankas last year to reflect its ownership by Sweden’s SEB, has long been a pioneer of banking in Lithuania. Its dominant position in deposits and lending cements its status as the biggest bank, with more than $1 billion greater assets than the second-largest bank, Hansabankas. Its loan portfolio accounted for 35% of the market at the end of 2004 and its deposits for 34% of the market. SEB Vilniaus Bankas is now being used to further SEB’s expansion in eastern Europe and in January 2005 it acquired Bank Agio in Ukraine.
Although Deutsche Bank and UBS led the only international issue from the Republic of Lithuania – the successful €600 million issue in February this year – SEB Vilniaus Bankas wins the award for best debt house. It had a co-lead role in this 11-year Eurobond issue. But it is the domestic market in which SEB Vilniaus Bankas really shines. It has a market share of 15% in the Lithuanian government bond primary market and 17% of the combined corporate and government bond market.
Given the absence of primary market activity in Lithuania, the award for best equities house also goes to SEB Vilniaus Bankas, the top broker in the country. It increased volume by 1.84 times, compared with a wider market growth of just 1.29 times. Its market share has increased from 18.19% to 26.04% while its nearest rival has 20.17%. Meanwhile, SEB Vilniaus Bankas has also increased its market share of the nascent block trade market to 36.73% from 15.86% a year ago.
Although Morgan Stanley dominated the M&A league table as a result of its advisory role in TeliaSonera’s purchase of 10% of mobile telecom company Omnitel, SEB Vilfima, formerly known as VB Vilfima, wins the best M&A award. In addition to advising on SEB Vilniaus Bankas’s acquisition of Agio bank in Ukraine it worked on Finnish IT solution provider’s Affecto Genimap acquisition of leading Baltic company Informacinës Technologijos Group and the sale of the shares of Energijos Realizacijos Centras to RAO Nordic.
