Credit Agricole is a European bank but it has a much wider presence when it comes to ESG financing. Its global reach is underscored by its two key transactions of 2021. One – Ford Motor’s US$15.5bn revolving credit facility, the largest sustainability-linked financing ever and IFR’s North America Loan of the Year – came in the US. The other – the European Union’s €12bn 15-year and IFR's Sustainable Bond of the Year – came closer to home. But the ban

It’s easy to dismiss Goldman Sachs’ success globally in ECM through the coronavirus pandemic as the bank simply riding high thanks to excess liquidity and the extraordinary (and exhausting) pace of deal activity. It was comfortably ahead of rivals in 2020 – collecting our global, North America and EMEA Equity House awards – and for 2021 takes away another three out of four equity titles. “You’re joking – not another one!” was the shocked reaction t

In structured equity the sky was the limit in early 2021, with seemingly no ceiling to the premiums possible on convertible bonds and the call spreads that often accompany them. The textbook performance of equity-linked investments when markets tanked in early 2020 combined with dizzying equity valuations led to an influx of investor capital seeking to chase further potential upside, while protecting themselves from possible corrections. Online travel company Expedia set a record in February tha

Danish insurer Tryg’s £7.2bn acquisition of RSA Insurance, alongside Canada’s Intact Financial, required equity funding of DKr37bn (US$5.9bn) representing around 60% of Tryg’s market capitalisation; it needed underwriters to guarantee the funds – without the usual MAC clauses – for 12 months from announcement; and involved a majority shareholder sensitive to dilution but without the funds to participate in full. The typical M&A approach of debt bridging to

Whatever else, you lot work hard (there’s a reason that some of us became journalists rather than finance types). Issuance records were broken all over the place. It was the busiest year ever for M&A, for instance, with the 63,000 completed transactions valued at US$5.9trn, according to Refinitiv numbers. That was an annual increase of 64% in value terms, and up more than US$1.5trn over the previous record set in 2015. It was a similar story in the new issue equity markets, with 2021 s

Rothschild is well established while many advisory competitors are in their infancy. One result is that few can compete on the number of deals completed. However, it isn’t just the case that deals beget deals beget awards. Rothschild is also leveraging its wider experience to help clients in choppy markets and expanding its services to reflect changing needs. The firm’s total revenues across global advisory, which includes M&A advice, were up 64% to €1.3bn in the first nine

While 2021 was a year of recovery for many businesses and financial institutions, for those in the public sector the second year of the coronavirus pandemic was a very different story. Many started the year already in a poor financial state, only to find themselves hit with spiralling costs and a dwindling tax base as new variants led to an explosion in case numbers. Faced with such challenges, a trustworthy team of independent advisers was key. Time and time again, Rothschild provided vital cou

Lucid Group, an EV maker steeped in technology, turned heads in February when it announced plans to go public via a SPAC merger, seizing upon a heated market to begin the process of raising US$6.6bn of equity. In addition to US$2.1bn of SPAC IPO funding, none of which was redeemed, Lucid was able to secure US$2.5bn of PIPE funding at a premium valuation to the SPAC, the first time that had ever happened. The PIPE entailed the placement of 167.7m shares at US$15 each, above the US$10 SPAC IPO pri

2021 was a year in which PJT Partners advised debtors and creditors across diverse sectors from high technology to natural resources on complex issues where it was far from easy to reach a solution to suit the broadest constituencies. “We are not afraid to make hard decisions,” said Steve Zelin, global head of restructuring and special situations at the firm. And there was no shortage of hard decisions to be made in cases such as Puerto Rico, Purdue Pharma and Premier Oil. In Puerto

An ability to get market timing just right and knowing when to pull the trigger on a deal kept Barclays ahead of the game in 2021. The bank also excelled in demonstrating the breadth of its franchise away from its home currency. It had lead roles on leveraged buyouts, deals for pandemic-impacted credits and opportunistic transactions. "Having gone into the pandemic with a significant M&A pipeline, we executed on that, and have continued to cement our position as a market leader around bringi

Advising companies from their early years through to when they are sold or publicly listed is the holy grail for financial sponsor bankers – in a fiercely competitive industry it shows the client is happy, and it can bring in years of fees from capital raisings, advisory and financing, all topped off with a sale or IPO at the end. In a banner year for financial sponsor activity for banks, the level of repeat deals won by Morgan Stanley stood out. Showing the strength of the franchise, the

The strong run of CMBS in the European market in 2021 reached its high point during the middle of summer. The deal was Morgan Stanley's second CMBS of the year, from its European Loan conduit platform, and saw its spreads land way inside initial marketing levels and post the tightest Triple A CMBS print since the financial crisis. HAUS (ELOC 39) is a €315.5m securitisation of a single senior loan advanced by the bank to finance Brookfield's acquisition (via eight affiliates) of a German mul

While 2020 was largely characterised by a frantic scramble to help clients access finance for their businesses as the coronavirus pandemic swept in, 2021 was completely different. Whether measured by number of issuers, new or rare sectors, investor engagement or just plain overall volumes, the region saw a much-needed increase in securitised paper on offer. "It's been certainly more dynamic … we pivoted into the expansion of markets, expansion of clients, and also at being more innovativ

Pent-up demand after the early months of the coronavirus pandemic coupled with a flood of easy money meant dealmakers were in demand in 2021. A record US$5.9trn of M&A was announced and US$4.46trn completed. Goldman Sachs retained its position as the number one adviser by all metrics, with a presence in almost a third of that pie, working on 512 completed deals with a total value of US$1.36trn, according to Refinitiv data. Its revenues from that work rose 84% to US$5.65bn, a new record. Insi

The critical role that the banking sector will play in helping to tackle the world’s biggest crisis was emphasised by the UN’s COP26 climate meeting in Glasgow in November, which underscored the urgency and magnitude of the energy transition. Like many of its peers, Societe Generale had announcements ready to roll out before COP in October but unlike its peers it announced concrete near-term targets with teeth, and committed to align its financing portfolios with strict temperature t

Momentum is building in the area of diversity and inclusion with an ever increasing number of companies hiring D&I firms for debt and equity transactions in 2021. Those firms are embracing the opportunity given to them, earning promotions to more senior roles and an increasing share of the fees. Black and women-owned Siebert Williams Shank was often the choice of companies that included a D&I component in their syndicates for the first time. Electronic Arts included SWS as the sole D&