Capital markets bankers in Asia are complaining of a new trend threatening their profits: corporate finance issuers are mandating more banks on each deal than ever before. According to data provided by UBS, the average number of banks on an IPO of more than $1 billion was 2.8 in 2007, 3 in 2008, 4.6 in 2009 and 5.4 in 2010. The trend is apparent in bonds as well: a fine example came on May 4 with the $500 million deal for India’s aptly named Syndicate Bank, which featured no fewer than eight bookrunners: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JPMorgan, Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered.
Although Indian borrowers are somewhat notorious for mandating as many banks as possible on their fundraising transactions, bankers say the practice is spreading to other countries in the region. It is noticeable among Chinese state-owned issuers, sources say, but is not limited to that sector. "We were disappointed by the number of firms that ended up working on ABC [the IPO of Agricultural Bank of China in July] in as much as it made the logistics of meetings difficult and cut into fees," says a senior banker who worked on the deal.