Goldman Sachs has long been acknowledged as an expert in privatization but Euromoney's poll shows just how far ahead of the pack Goldman is:overall, Goldman Sachs ranks 49 points ahead of its closest competitor -more than most banks scored in total.
Euromoney's ranking of the top 20 privatization banks is based on aggregate scores given by governments, privatized companies, investors and the banks' peers. Euromoney asked government ministry officials involved in privatization programmes, company directors of privatized companies, and heads of equity capital markets: "Overall, which banks or investment banks are the best global co-ordinators of privatization issues?"Institutional investors were asked: "Overall, which banks or investment banks do you most like to buy privatization shares from?" Scores from these questions were added together to produce the top 20 banks overall.
The three tables which follow the overall top 20 show how each group voted.Bankers consistently named the same half-dozen banks as best at privatization,while government officials, company directors and, to a lesser extent, investors were more wide-ranging in their answers. Whereas the banks themselves nominated only 10 banks among the overall best global co-ordinators, governments and companies named 29 different banks.
The triumvirate of Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley appears consistently at or near the top throughout the survey.