IFR marks its 50th anniversary in 2024. Since the first issue on March 22 1974, we’ve been covering the ups and downs and ins and outs of capital markets and investment banking. What to outsiders might seem a dry and technical subject has actually provided no end of drama and intrigue. And it was the same again in 2023. If anything, even more so. For all the clever deals covered in this awards book, 2023 wasn’t a vintage year for capital markets activity (especially if you’re c

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Bank of America’s remarkable surge in dealmaking in the EMEA region in 2023 meant it was both most improved and number one in some ECM products. Across equity and equity-linked the bank’s bookrunner market share leapt by 3.6 percentage points to 9.3%. However if US-listed shares are removed to give a clearer view of EMEA activity then Bank of America is comfortably the number one bank in the region with a 10% share, up a massive 4.2 percentage points in one year. In recent years Bank

It’s not hard to identify precisely the most important moment for Morgan Stanley in 2023. It wasn’t one of the many sparkling deals, clever pieces of advice or intricate trades. It was the exact moment on October 25 when Ted Pick was appointed CEO, taking over from James Gorman. What to outsiders might seem a functional, even prosaic, process – old bloke leaves the job, someone else takes over – was for watchers of Wall Street banks, with their history of internecine succ

In a single weekend, everything changed. Switzerland, home to two globally important banks more than a century and a half old, was home to one. The shockwaves from the collapse of Credit Suisse, and its rescue by UBS, were felt far and wide. Nowhere more so than in the Additional Tier 1 market, following Swiss regulator Finma’s decision to wipe out Credit Suisse’s entire AT1 stack while equity holders were given shares in UBS – an inversion of the typical hierarchy of losses. U

“Lead roles on big deals for marquee clients – that is what builds a franchise,” said Tom Swerling, global head of equity capital markets at Barclays. And there is no denying that Barclays’ handprints were all over the year's trophy offering. The bank staged one of the greatest investment banking coups in recent memory by grabbing a coveted top line role on 2023’s largest IPO, UK chip designer Arm Holdings' US$5.2bn Nasdaq debut in September. The bank brought its im

There is no getting around the fact that UBS’s acquisition of Credit Suisse for just SFr3bn (US$3.3bn) announced on Sunday, March 19 was the most significant M&A deal of 2023. If it hadn’t happened, and a global systemically important bank had been put into resolution, global markets and the wider economy would have been in a far darker place with the ensuing uncertainty such a decision would have sparked. Even at the start of the year, after Credit Suisse had already seen signif

The value of M&A deals announced in 2023 fell 17% to US$2.9trn, its lowest level for 10 years and significantly below 2021’s US$5.8trn peak, according to LSEG data. Large US banks remained the most active advisers, with 47% of deals targeting US companies, and none more so than JP Morgan. “In 2021 almost anyone could get an M&A deal done but 2023 required a lot more finesse, experience, creativity and structuring to get deals done,” said Anu Aiyengar, global head of M&a

IPOs often mark the start of long and fruitful investment banking relationships. By that score, Stifel distanced itself from mid-market peers in 2023. The bank was a bookrunner on nine of 32 US-listed IPOs priced during the year, trailing only much larger rivals such as JP Morgan (14) and Goldman Sachs (12). Equally apportioned across bookrunners, the US$560m of IPO business credited to Stifel was a 2.9% share of the US$19.5bn of deals priced during the year, according to LSEG data. Stifel was p

Despite outperformance of equity benchmarks, Latin America ECM languished in 2023 as companies proved reluctant sellers and investors unconvinced of the turnaround, reducing issuance to need-based financing. BTG Pactual figured prominently in that recapitalisation as a bookrunner on 23 of the 32 equity offerings completed in the year and US$1.9bn of league table credit, a 21.7% share of the US$8.6bn of transactions across the region, according to LSEG data. Against a backdrop that saw Brazil&rsq

At times, it seems like BNP Paribas doesn't just lead, but runs the equity-linked market in EMEA. It opened the market with a €400m five-year CB for French engineering group Spie on January 10 that priced at best for the issuer and closed the year when most were already getting stuck in to the port, with a NKr1bn (US$97m) five-year for Norway's Hexagon Purus on December 20, its second trade for the electronic vehicle parts maker in the year. A €1bn CB for Cellnex on the last Friday of

“We punch well above our weight-class in the context of an industry that’s dominated by giants,” said Sidney Dillard, Loop Capital’s head of corporate investment banking. “That is very different from the start of the firm in 1997,” said Dillard, a 22-year veteran of the firm. Loop, a black-owned and led investment bank, brokerage and advisory firm, was founded 27 years ago by James Reynolds and Albert Grace in Chicago, with a staff of six. Today the firm has 2

Loan issuance tumbled globally in 2023 amid rising rates, a valuation gap between buyers and sellers that kept acquisition activity to a minimum, and the emergence of private credit, which stepped in as an alternative buyout financing provider. Despite the slowdown and some of the most challenging lending conditions seen in recent years, JP Morgan was behind some of the biggest deals of 2023 including the massive US$8.65bn-equivalent financing for merchant payments business Worldpay. The US$5.2b

When US$5.5bn of widely syndicated loans and bonds for Blackstone’s purchase of a 55% stake in Emerson’s climate technology business priced in May 2023, weeks before the buyout closed, it all looked like a simple deal, even a little boring. The renowned New York buyout shop was getting control of a heating, ventilation and air conditioning unit, renamed Copeland, of a publicly listed Fortune 500 company that was selling some assets as it tweaked its corporate strategy. Copeland was v

Volatile financial markets and unpredictable funding conditions deterred much capital markets activity in 2023 and those who braved the rough seas often needed different options from what had worked for the previous decade. Private equity giant KKR opted against a public block sale for US mobile technology firm AppLovin and placed US$700m in a pair of discreet equity sales, for example, while heating and ventilation firm Apex Service Partners and audiobook publisher RBMedia turned to private cre

2023 was a challenging year for sustainable financing as high interest rates dented broader borrowing demand and a political backlash against ESG initiatives further subdued labelled deals in the US. Nevertheless, Citigroup maintained a strong ESG deal flow in the region with labelled bonds for US issuers, including Mars and MidAmerican Energy, innovative bond issues in Latin America and debut labelled offerings and frameworks in a variety of sectors. Citigroup in 2023 dethroned JP Morgan and Ba

On paper, liability management sounds like a simple process for heavily indebted companies to confront their problems squarely with their bondholders. But exponents of the art say it would be wrong to assume there is a readymade solution to every situation. “It's not an easy market,” said Steve Zelin, global head of restructuring and special situations group at PJT Partners. Processes need to be refined on many occasions and PJT is frequently the first port of call from those on both

Amid a surge in interest rates, companies looked to convertible bonds to lower borrowing costs, leading issuance to transition to rate-sensitive utilities, REITs and industrials from technology and healthcare companies. PPL, a Baa1/A– rated US utility, was the first to take the plunge with US$1bn raised from the sale of a five-year CB priced at 2.875% coupon and 22.5% conversion premium, through the aggressive ends of price talk. The offering was the first plain vanilla CB by a US utility