Awards for Excellence 2019
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Overall, this was a year when banks with greater strengths in debt financing could shine, as the decreasing chances of an imminent ECB rate rise reflected poorer global and regional growth prospects – weighing on Europe’s equity markets but still allowing many names to borrow funds at longer maturities.
What is most impressive about BNP Paribas, western Europe’s best bank for financing, is its involvement in such a large proportion of the most important financing deals of the year across the region – and not purely in debt. This reflects the bank’s efforts to widen its European presence under Yann Gérardin, head of corporate and institutional banking.
The bank began the awards period with a big deal in April last year, as sole coordinator of a €5 billion financing package for E.On relating to its acquisition of Innogy from RWE, advising on the exchange of assets and public offering of Innogy shares. And it ended the period in a similarly impressive way, acting as global coordinator on Vodafone’s £3.44 billion dual-tranche convertible bond, funding the acquisition of Liberty Global, in March this year.
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Yann Gérardin |
BNP Paribas’ other big deals during the period include bookrunning an €11 billion revolving credit facility refinancing for Daimler and helping coordinate the financing behind the TDC leveraged buyout in Denmark’s telecoms sector. It was also coordinator on the €1.8 billion triple-tranche senior unsecured bond for software services company Atos, to fund its acquisition of Syntel, for which BNP Paribas also underwrote the $3.4 billion bridge financing.
BNP Paribas has also been at the forefront of the advance of sustainable financing, with issuance from clients including Adeccor, Accor, Stora Enso and Danone. It has also helped the development of the use of blockchain technology, participating in the €150 million club deal for Red Electrica in October, which used blockchain to negotiate the terms and to publish the final term sheet.
