Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2006
Emerging markets Best bank I Emerging Markets Best investment bank I Emerging Markets Best debt house I Emerging Markets Best equity house I Emerging Markets Best M&A house
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Also shortlisted in this category: Citigroup Morgan Stanley |
Today, Credit Suisse is, with Citigroup, the pre-eminent investment bank in the emerging markets. But while Citigroup owes its position to a series of transformative acquisitions executed at great cost, Credit Suisse has strengthened itself by making its existing platform more efficient. At the end of 2004, the bank established the global markets solutions group, placing all the financing products under one umbrella. Then, at the beginning of this year, Credit Suisse combined investment banking, private banking and asset management under a single brand.
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“We continue to see enormous growth potential in these markets, across many different asset classes” Brady Dougan |
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These measures have helped reaffirm the bank’s commitment to emerging markets. “We continue to see enormous growth potential in these markets, across many different asset classes, and view our strong position in emerging markets as key to our strategy to serve our clients, build revenues and deliver strong returns for our shareholders,” says Dougan. The bank has executed a series of innovative deals in the past year, especially in debt and equity. And while Credit Suisse’s M&A business is not as strong, it can point to some landmark transactions in important markets.
It is in the capital markets, however, that the bank shines most. In equities, Credit Suisse ranked number one in IPOs in emerging markets globally, as well as number one in each of the three major regions in 2005. Its most high profile deal last year was China Construction Bank’s $9.2 billion IPO, albeit as a last-minute replacement for Citigroup after it was ejected from the transaction for declining to buy a stake in the Chinese bank. Credit Suisse has also dominated issuance out of Brazil, and in Russia it acted as bookrunner for three of the five largest IPOs: a $966 million transaction for Novatek, a $422 million deal for Evraz, and a $639 million offering from Pyaterochka.
The bank’s most innovative equity transaction was the €825 million exchangeable bond for Weather/Orascom Telecom in Egypt. The deal was a highly creative solution to refinance part of the leveraged buyout of Wind Telecom. What was most striking was that the structure included an option to exchange the bond into Weather shares even though the company has yet to list. The company plans to list this year or next but if it doesn’t, the bond is exchangeable into the global depositary receipts of Orascom.
Credit Suisse’s biggest hole in equities is India, which is something it plans to put right over the next year. The bank hired Morgan Stanley veteran Mihir Doshi in January to lead its efforts and build a team. If he’s successful, Credit Suisse will be in a position to dominate IPOs in all the big emerging markets.
On the debt side, Credit Suisse recorded several ground-breaking transactions. In Latin America it executed many successful trades, especially for Mexican borrowers. These include the $2.5 billion debt exchange warrants for the sovereign and a Ps5 billion ($438 million) global peso bond for Telmex, which was the first peso-denominated global bond from a Mexican corporate issuer. In EEMEA, highlights include the first international bond out of Latvia, for Parex Bank, and Gazprom’s 2012, which achieved the lowest coupon for a Russian corporate. In Asia, Credit Suisse led the corporate market with a 17.6% market share. In addition, the bank specialized in innovative private high yield and structured loans and notes.
In comparison, the bank has executed fewer landmark M&A transactions, though it can point to success in certain pockets. It dominates the market in Indonesia, while in China it has advised on a number of relatively small-scale but significant transactions. These include China National BlueStar Corporation’s A400 million acquisition of the Adisseo animal feedstock business from CVC Capital Partners – the first ever acquisition of a Chinese company from a financial sponsor portfolio. In Latin America, the bank has worked on big transactions in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Peru and Panama, reflecting its breadth in the region. In central and eastern Europe, Credit Suisse advised on one of the most important deals of last year, the privatization of Cesky Telecom.
Emerging markets Best bank I Emerging Markets Best investment bank I Emerging Markets Best debt house I Emerging Markets Best equity house I Emerging Markets Best M&A house
