The winners of GlobalCapital's Equity Capital Markets Awards for 2016 were announced on Wednesday night at our second ECM Awards Dinner, held at the Banking Hall in London.
The Awards comprise Deals of the Year and Awards for Best Non-Bank Market Participants, which are determined by a poll of market participants, so that they reflect the opinion of the market.
They also include awards for the Banks of the Year, which are judged by GlobalCapital's editorial team.
Peter Terium, CEO of Innogy, collecting the Award for Equity Capital Markets Deal of the Year, recalled how his son had sent him a web posting in which Bloomberg had hailed his "financial alchemy". This reflected how the €4.6bn IPO had transformed one struggling company, RWE, at risk of being downgraded to junk, into two healthy ones: a debt-free RWE and a growth-orientated, investment grade Innogy.
Chris Roberts, managing director at JP Morgan, accepting the Award for Equity Capital Markets Bank of the Year, paid tribute to the clients the bank had worked for and expressed his determination to do the same in 2017.
Jos Baeten, CEO of ASR Nederland, Akkie Lansberg, who was the IPO lead, and David Wyatt, managing director at NLFI, the Dutch state investment agency, accepted the Awards for Financial Institution ECM Deal of the Year and ECM Deal of the Year in the Benelux, for the privatisation IPO of the Dutch insurance company. The share price has risen more than a third since the IPO, in which investors recognised the company's strong capitalisation and yield.
Paul Moraviec, CEO of ConvaTec, the UK medical products company that floated for £1.6bn in October and is now in the FTSE 100, received the Award for ECM Deal of the Year in the UK and Ireland and paid tribute to the hard work of his CFO Nigel Clerkin and shareholders, Nordic Capital and Avista Capital Partners. ConvaTec's strong position in a vital market convinced investors at a time when many other IPOs failed.
Banco Popular's €2.5bn rights issue, which raised its non-performing asset provision to the optimal level, won Best Equity Capital Raising by a Listed Company, as well as ECM Deal of the Year in Iberia. Javier Moreno, CFO, collected the Award and thanked the bank's staff as well as its advisers.
“We are delighted to have been granted the Equity Capital Markets Award," a spokesperson for the bank said. "We truly appreciate your support even though our last capital raise results don’t allow us to be satisfied.”
Bayer's finance team of Sven Vorstius, Ute Bonenkamp and Dominika Gödde collected the Award for the German life sciences company's €4bn mandatory convertible bond in November, which broke off the first part of the $19bn equity financing of its planned acquisition of Monsanto. The meticulously planned deal was executed overnight, with a concurrent placement of stock for hedge funds wanting to hedge the deal. With much of the deal's financing still to do, including a rights issue planned for closer to the time the acquisition receives regulatory approval and closes, Bayer's team are likely to be busy again this year.
Two smaller, high growth companies won Awards for their IPOs. The IPO of the Year under $300m was awarded by a big margin in GlobalCapital's poll to Technogym, the Italian maker of gym equipment.
Pierluigi Alessandri, co-founder of the company, and Carlo Capelli, a board member, collected the Award with Javier Abad, partner at Arle Capital Partners, the private equity firm that has backed the company. The €187m IPO, intended to launch the company into a new phase of growth under its motto "health is the new luxury", has returned 81% to investors.
The Best Technology or Biotech IPO Award was won by Takeaway.com, the Dutch takeaway delivery group that has a commanding market share in the Netherlands and has expanded to eight other European countries and Vietnam.
Jitse Groen, who founded the business in his attic as a student 17 years ago, and Jörg Gerbig, who founded the German business Lieferando that Takeaway.com bought in 2014, collected the Award, with CFO Brent Wissink. Groen was in buoyant mood despite the company's share price having fallen 6.7% that day after results. After all, that still left the stock 40% up since the September IPO.
The ECM Deal of the Year in France and the Benelux was received by Yves Bataillon Debès, head of corporate finance at Air Liquide, the French industrial gases company whose €3.3bn rights issue, the biggest last year, was heavily oversubscribed. Some 36% of the company's shares are held by retail investors, an extra challenge for the deal, but the market's support for Air Liquide's acquisition of Airgas ensured a strong reception and the shares have risen since.
Air Liquide's deal was also nominated for the overall Deal of the Year - as were the IPOs of Enav, the Italian air traffic control system, and Dong Energy, the Danish oil-to-wind group.
Enav's €834m privatisation IPO in July was the first time an air traffic control organisation had been listed on the stockmarket. It met a strong demand for stable yield among investors, with some growth uplift from the projected growth in traffic through Italian airspace. Stefano Songini, head of investor relations at Enav, accepted the award of ECM Deal of the Year in Italy on behalf of the company and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, which had sold a stake in the deal. The transaction was also notable for being executed in the extremely challenging conditions just after the UK's Brexit referendum.
Dong Energy's Dkr19.7bn IPO got in ahead of the Brexit vote, and impressed voters for the strong demand it generated for a complex, transformational equity story, led by an acclaimed management team. The deal won Privatisation of the Year and ECM Deal of the Year in the Nordic Region, which were accepted by Peter Obling, lead M&A specialist at Dong Energy.
Steinhoff International won two Awards for different deals, which were collected by David Hill of its M&A team. The South African furniture and household goods manufacturer and retailer is on an acquisition trail, and executed two major capital raisings in 2016, as part of a busy 18 months for the company, which has acquired a Frankfurt listing.
Its €1.1bn convertible bond, issued in April, was designed to help it finance multiple M&A situations, and was just what equity-linked investors wanted after a series of equity-neutral deals: a straightforward structure, which they snapped up despite Steinhoff having issued several times before. The deal won ECM Deal of the Year in Turkey, the Middle East and Africa.
Then in September, the company raised €2.45bn of equity capital, of which €1.9bn was underwritten by its core shareholders, and €556m raised in an accelerated bookbuild. This deal, which involved the shareholders financing their investments using derivatives, won Structured Equity Deal of the Year.
Linklaters took Best Law Firm for Equity Capital Markets, having worked on several of the year's Award-winning deals, while Rothschild, which advised issuers on several of them, including Bayer's equity-linked triumph, won Best ECM Adviser.
Among the banks, Goldman Sachs won IPO Bank of the Year, ECM Bank of the Year for Financial Institutions and ECM Bank of the Year for Private Equity, reflecting its market share growth in sponsor-led deals and IPOs, and its continued command of top line positions on financial deals.
UBS scooped Block Trade Bank of the Year after a strong year of interesting transactions with a performance record that beat rivals.
BNP Paribas was Equity-Linked Bank of the Year after fending off strong challenges from Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan and still leading the most deals.
A deal BNPP led, together with Goldman Sachs, Natixis and HSBC, the $618m 0% equity-neutral convertible for LVMH in February, won Most Innovative ECM Deal of the Year, for introducing the structure, since copied by several other issuers, in which a convertible is placed in dollars but with a euro conversion price.
Accepting Morgan Stanley's Award for Best Bank for Privatisations, Martin Thorneycroft, head of syndicate, said these were the bank's most important mandates.
Carnegie won Best Bank for Small Cap ECM after its leading role in a very strong year for Nordic equity capital markets activity, which enabled it to come in high in pan-European league tables for smaller companies.
Barclays was Best Corporate Broker for the second year running, as it has continued to grow its broking franchise faster than rivals. Alisdair Gayne, the team's head, said he hoped Barclays could continue its seven year growth track record for another seven years.
GlobalCapital's investor and private equity Awards returned three winners that had won the same Awards for 2015: BlackRock was Most Influential Long-Only Equity Investor, Marshall Wace Most Influential Hedge Fund Equity Investor and Bain Capital the Best Private Equity Firm at Using the Equity Capital Markets.
But a new winner was Fisch Asset Management, which took Most Influential Equity-Linked Investor.
The regional bank awards showed some banks' consistent holds on key markets: Bank of America Merrill Lynch was ECM Bank of the Year in the UK and Ireland for the second year running, while Mediobanca held the Italian Award and UBS the Iberian.
Citigroup was again best bank in the CEEMEA region. One of its deals with Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, the Ck20bn IPO of Moneta Money Bank, won the Award for Deal of the Year in that region. The highly popular IPO by GE Capital was also, according to the JP Morgan banker who spoke after the Award presentation, the fastest complete exit after an IPO for 10 years.
But there was an upset in France and Benelux, where Société Générale deposed BNP Paribas after leading the most deals in France and across the whole region, managing to gain market share even though the Netherlands, not its home market, was the big market hotspot of 2016. Citi's strong role in Dutch deals won it a nomination in this category.
And Credit Suisse captured the Award for ECM Bank of the Year in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, after it topped the league table with a 6% market share gain, including the highest number of global coordinator roles.
Nordea has also taken the Nordic Bank of the Year crown from SEB after a big market share rise that took it to the top of the league table.
Banks of the Year
Equity Capital Markets Bank of the Year
JP Morgan
2 Goldman Sachs
3 UBS
IPO Bank of the Year
Goldman Sachs
2 Deutsche Bank
3 Morgan Stanley
Block Trade Bank of the Year
UBS
2 JP Morgan
3 Goldman Sachs
Equity-Linked Bank of the Year
BNP Paribas
2 JP Morgan
3 Goldman Sachs
ECM Bank of the Year for Financial Institutions
Goldman Sachs
2 JP Morgan
3 Morgan Stanley
ECM Bank of the Year for Private Equity Firms
Goldman Sachs
2 Citigroup
3 Barclays
Best Bank for Privatisations
Morgan Stanley
2 Deutsche Bank
3 JP Morgan
Best Bank for Small Cap Equity Capital Markets
Carnegie
2 Numis Securities
3 JP Morgan
Best Corporate Broker
Barclays
2 UBS
3 Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Banks of the Year by Region
Equity Capital Markets Bank of the Year in the UK and Ireland
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
2 Numis Securities
3 JP Morgan
Equity Capital Markets Bank of the Year in France and the Benelux
Société Générale
2= BNP Paribas, Citigroup
Equity Capital Markets Bank of the Year in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
Credit Suisse
2 Goldman Sachs
3 Deutsche Bank
Equity Capital Markets Bank of the Year in Italy
Mediobanca
2 UniCredit
3 Banca Imi
Equity Capital Markets Bank of the Year in Iberia
UBS
2 Morgan Stanley
3 JP Morgan
Equity Capital Markets Bank of the Year in the Nordic Region
Nordea
2 Morgan Stanley
3 Carnegie
Equity Capital Markets Bank of the Year in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa
Citigroup
2 Goldman Sachs
3 JP Morgan
Best Non-Bank Market Participants
Best Equity Capital Markets Adviser
Rothschild
2 Lazard
3 STJ Advisors
Best Law Firm for Equity Capital Markets
Linklaters
2 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
3= Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance
Best Private Equity Firm at using the Equity Capital Markets
Bain Capital
2 EQT
3= Advent International, Goldman Sachs
Most Influential Long-Only Equity Investor
BlackRock
2 Fidelity
3= Capital Group, Norges Bank Investment Management
Most Influential Hedge Fund Equity Investor
Marshall Wace
2= Och-Ziff, Pelham Capital
Most Influential Equity-Linked Investor
Fisch Asset Management
2 Och-Ziff
3 CQS
Deals of the Year
Equity Capital Markets Deal of the Year
Innogy
€4.6bn IPO
6 October 2016
Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs (global coordinators)
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, UBS (bookrunners)
2= Bayer
€4bn 5.625% mandatory CB
BAML, CS, GS, JPM (gc), Citi, HSBC
2= Dong Energy
Dkr19.7bn IPO
JPM, MS, Nordea (gc), Citi, Danske, UBS
4 Enav
€834m IPO
Barc, CS, Medio (gc), Imi, JPM, Uni
5 Air Liquide
€3.28bn rights issue
Barc, BNPP, SG (gc), Imi, Citi, Commerz, CA, HSBC, JPM, Nat
IPO of the Year
Innogy
€4.6bn IPO
6 October 2016
Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs (global coordinators)
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, UBS (bookrunners)
2 DONG Energy
Dkr19.7bn IPO
JPM, MS, Nordea (gc), Citi, Danske, UBS
3 Enav
€834m IPO
Barc, CS, Medio (gc), Imi, JPM, Uni
4 ConvaTec
£1.6bn IPO
BAML, GS, UBS (gc), CS, DB, JPM, MS
Block Trade of the Year
Saga
£688m sale of stock by Acromas Bid Co (Charterhouse, CVC, Permira)
22 April 2016
Numis Securities (bookrunner)
2 SAB Miller
£1bn block trade by Kulczyk Investments
CS
3 Dassault Aviation
€784m block trade by Airbus
BAML, BNPP, DB, GS, JPM
Equity-Linked Bond Deal of the Year
Bayer Capital Corp
€4bn 5.625% mandatorily convertible bond due 2019
16 November 2016
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan (global coordinators)
Citigroup, HSBC (lead managers)
2 Airbus
€1.1bn exchangeable bond into Dassault Aviation
BAML, BNPP, DB, GS, JPM
3 BP
£400m equity-neutral convertible bond
Barc, CS, GS, SG
Best Equity Capital Raising by a Listed Company
Banco Popular Español
€2.5bn rights issue
17 June 2016
UBS, Goldman Sachs (global coordinators)
BBVA, Santander, Barclays, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley (bookrunners)
HSBC, Credit Suisse, Société Générale (lead managers)
2 Air Liquide
€3.28bn rights issue
Barc, BNPP, SG (gc), Imi, Citi, Commerz, CA, HSBC, JPM, Nat
3 Melrose Industries
£1.68bn rights issue
Investec, JPM (gc), BAML
Privatisation of the Year
DONG Energy
Dkr19.7bn IPO
9 June 2016
JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Nordea (global coordinators)
Citigroup, Danske Bank, UBS (bookrunners)
2 Enav
€834m IPO
Barc, CS, Medio (gc), Imi, JPM, Uni
3 ASR Nederland
€1.06bn IPO
ABN, Citi, DB (gc), Barc, HSBC, ING, Rabo
Financial Institution ECM Deal of the Year
ASR Nederland
€1.06bn IPO
9 June 2016
ABN Amro, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank (global coordinators)
Barclays, HSBC, ING, Rabobank (bookrunners)
2 Banco Popular Español
€2.5bn rights issue
UBS, GS (gc), BBVA, Sant, Barc, Citi, DB, MS (bk), HSBC, CS, SG (lead managers)
3 CaixaBank
€1.3bn primary block trade
JPM, MS
Technology or Biotech IPO of the Year
Takeaway.com
€378m IPO
30 September 2016
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley (global coordinators)
ABN Amro, UBS (bookrunners)
2 ConvaTec
£1.6bn IPO
BAML, GS, UBS (gc), CS, DB, JPM, MS
3 Shop Apotheke
€115m IPO
Berenberg, Citi (gc), Commerz
IPO of the Year under $300m
Technogym
€187m IPO
28 April 2016
Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Mediobanca (global coordinators)
Nominees:
AcadeMedia
Skr1.1bn IPO
Carnegie (gc), Nordea, SEB
Blue Prism
£21m IPO
Investec
Investis Holding
Sfr163m IPO
CS
SIF Holding
€118m IPO
ABN, HSBC (gc), ING, Rabo
Most Innovative ECM Deal
LVMH
$618m 0% equity-neutral convertible bond due 2021
4 February 2016
BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, Natixis (global coordinators)
HSBC (bookrunner)
2 Telenor sale of stock in Vimpelcom
$574m sale of stock and $1bn exchangeable bond
MS, JPM (gc), Citi, CS
3 SAB Miller
£1bn block trade by Kulczyk Investments
CS
Structured Equity Deal of the Year
Steinhoff International Holdings
€2.45bn capital raising, with €1.9bn underwritten by shareholders, including use of margin loan and collar
€556m accelerated bookbuild
28 September 2016
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, HSBC (global coordinators)
Commerzbank, Crédit Agricole, Natixis, Société Générale, UniCredit (bookrunners)
2 Airbus exit from Dassault Aviation
€784m block trade and €1.1bn exchangeable
BAML, BNPP, DB, GS, JPM
3 América Móvil sale of Telekom Austria stock
€374m Citigroup exchangeable bond
Citi, DB
Deals of the Year by Region
ECM Deal of the Year in the UK and Ireland
ConvaTec
£1.6bn IPO
26 October 2016
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, UBS (global coordinators)
Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley (bookrunners)
2 Vodafone
£2.9bn equity-neutral mandatory convertible bond
JPM, MS
3 Saga
£688m sale of stock by Acromas Bid Co (Charterhouse, CVC, Permira)
Numis
ECM Deal of the Year in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
Innogy
€4.6bn IPO
6 October 2016
Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs (global coordinators)
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, UBS (bookrunners)
2 Bayer
€4bn mandatory CB
BAML, CS, GS, JPM (gc), Citi, HSBC
3 VAT Group
Sfr621m IPO
UBS, CS (gcs), JPM
ECM Deal of the Year in France
Air Liquide
€3.28bn rights issue
7 October 2016
Barclays, BNP Paribas, Société Générale (global coordinators)
Banca Imi, Citigroup, Commerzbank, Crédit Agricole, HSBC, JP Morgan, Natixis (bookrunners)
Mizuho, MUFG, SMBC Nikko, Crédit Mutuel-CIC (lead managers)
2 Airbus exit from Dassault Aviation
€784m block trade and €1.1bn exchangeable
BAML, BNPP, DB, GS, JPM
3 Maisons du Monde
€380m IPO
Citi, GS, SG (gc), CA, Jeff, JPM
ECM Deal of the Year in the Benelux
ASR Nederland
€1.06bn IPO
9 June 2016
ABN Amro, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank (global coordinators)
Barclays, HSBC, ING, Rabobank (bookrunners)
2 NN Group
€1.38bn block trade by ING Groep
CS, ING, JPM, UBS (gc), Citi, Cmz, HSBC, KBC, Medio
3 ABN Amro
€1.33bn block trade by the Netherlands
ABN, DB, GS, MS
ECM Deal of the Year in Italy
Enav
€834m IPO
21 July 2016
Barclays, Credit Suisse, Mediobanca (global coordinators)
Banca Imi, JP Morgan, UniCredit (bookrunners)
2 Saipem €3.5bn rights issue
GS, JPM (gc), Imi, Citi, DB, Medio, Uni (bk)
3= Banco Popolare €1bn rights issue
BAML, Medio
3= Eni €402m equity-neutral CB
BNPP, HSBC, MS
ECM Deal of the Year in Iberia
Banco Popular Español
€2.5bn rights issue
17 June 2016
UBS, Goldman Sachs (global coordinators)
BBVA, Santander, Barclays, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley (bookrunners)
HSBC, Credit Suisse, Société Générale (lead managers)
2 CaixaBank
€1.3bn primary block trade
JPM, MS
3 Telefónica
€608m equity-neutral CB
BNPP, Citi, GS
ECM Deal of the Year in the Nordic region
DONG Energy
Dkr19.7bn IPO
9 June 2016
JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Nordea (global coordinators)
Citigroup, Danske Bank, UBS (bookrunners)
2 Ahlsell
Skr6.9bn IPO
GS, Nordea (gc), Carnegie, Danske, DB, JPM, UBS
3 Nets
Dkr15.75bn IPO
DB, MS, Nordea (gc), JPM, UBS, Danske, DnB
ECM Deal of the Year in CEE, Russia and the CIS
Moneta Money Bank
Ck20bn IPO
6 May 2016
Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan (bookrunners)
Wood & Co (lead manager)
2 Bank Pekao
Z3.3bn block trade by UniCredit
Citi, MS, UBS, Uni
3= Severstal
$200m convertible bond
Citi, SG, DB, JPM
3= RussNeft
Rb32bn IPO
VTB, Sber (gc), Aton, BCS
ECM Deal of the Year in Turkey, the Middle East and Africa
Steinhoff Finance Holding
€1.1bn 1.25% convertible bond due 2023
14 April 2016
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, HSBC (bookrunners)
2 Barclays Africa
R13bn block trade by Barclays
Barc (gc), Citi, JPM, UBS
3 Dis-Chem Pharmacies
R4.4bn IPO
GS, Investec, Standard (gc), BAML