Western Europe regional awards
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Best Bank: Santander Totta |
The efficiency of Santander Totta in Portugal is an unrivalled accomplishment that continues to impress. While other Portuguese banks such as Millennium are bigger and are seeking new opportunities abroad in central Europe and in former colonies such as Angola, Santander Totta’s concentration on the local market has helped the bank expand at an impressive rate while keeping costs under control. Investment banking activity in Portugal over the past year has centred on privatizations, high-stakes M&A battles and project finance. In all these areas Portuguese banks have proved strong competitors to the international houses that like to fly in from London to cherry-pick the biggest deals by offering cut-throat prices.
The best example of this comes from the privatization of Galp Energia, the largest equity capital markets deal of the year, which featured Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and local investment banks Banco Espírito Santo and Caixa Geral de Depósitos Banco Investimento.
CGD-BI proved its worth on the deal by placing 57% of the €1.1 billion offer, far more than any of the other bookrunners on the transaction.