Awards for Excellence 2019
With Russian markets reeling from a fresh bout of sanctions and Turkey suffering extreme currency volatility, investment bankers in CEE were on the back foot last year. As the flow of larger deals slowed to a trickle, the small group of global players still focused on the region struggled to find a market for their services.
The only firm that demonstrated consistent strength across investment banking products, comprehensive regional coverage and a willingness to put its balance sheet to work in a challenging region was Citi, the best investment bank and best bank for financing in CEE.
Citi not only maintained its leadership in capital markets, ranking second in Dealogic’s league tables for primary equity and bond issuance, but also jumped to the top of the regional M&A rankings for the first time. In the 12 months to the end of March, Citi accounted for more than 10% of recorded M&A volumes in CEE, acting on 12 deals with a total value of $8.5 billion.
These included sole financial adviser mandates on a clutch of landmark transactions, notably the sale of Raiffeisen Polbank to BNP Paribas, Naspers’ acquisition of a $1.2