Yuanta Securities
When it comes to corporate and investment banking in Taiwan, Yuanta Securities remains the institution to beat. It ranked top in debt capital markets volumes in the 12 months to the end of March, completing 40 deals worth $2.3 billion, for a 14.5% share of the market, according to data from Dealogic.
In equity capital markets, it ranked third, completing 22 deals worth $620 million for an 8% overall share, highly creditable positions in a highly competitive industry. Important deals include two follow-on stock sales by leading chip makers, with Chunghwa Precision finalizing a $65 million sale in September 2017, and Winbond Electronics completing its $291 million secondary offering a month later. And this is before the smaller sales that constantly pepper the market.
Yuanta reckons that of the 165 equity or equity-linked sales completed in Taiwan in the year to the end of March, it participated in 36, worth a combined NT$11.9 billion ($400 million).
The institution is also pushing harder into M&A as Taiwan’s larger companies enter new markets and consolidate at home. In May 2017, it advised local broking outfit Ta Chong Securities during its merger with local rival Taishin Securities. Under its cheery but resolute chief executive, Arthur Chen, Yuanta has remained a leader in its field, constantly competitive in years both good and bad, and a dominant force in the securities sector for nearly 60 years.
“We are changing all the time,” Chen says. “We’re number one in broking, in investment banking, and we regularly top the tables in ECM and DCM. The key for us is how to remain number one but to become even better.” He will surely find a way.