Bank for Financial Institutions: Citigroup

It’s been a tough year in the debt capital markets – and that’s been reflected in lower issuance volumes. Global cross-border supply fell by more than US$500bn in this year’s awards period compared with the last, according to Refinitiv data, a decrease of some 13%. All of the leading global banks saw a fall in their market share, except one: HSBC. The UK bank increased its share of all international business by 20bp to 5.8%. That might not sound a lot, but given that the banks above HSBC in the global league table – the US trio of JP Morgan, Citigroup and Bank of America Merrill Lynch – all suffered market share falls of more than 90bp, it’s quite a feat, especially given the slump in overall issuance. The reason behind this growth? Consistency. The bank has been strong in emerging markets for some time but maybe didn’t always punch its weight in other areas. Not this year. “We’ve had a pre-eminent year in emerging markets again but this year we’ve married that with a leading position in a range of other markets,” said Alexi Chan, who was appointed earlier this year to co-head a new global capital markets group that brings various businesses such as debt and equity capital markets, leveraged and acquisition finance, structured finance and corporate risk solutions under one umbrella. The bank is, for example, leading the way for global financial issuers over the awards period and is top three for SSAR and SRI, as well as emerging markets. In terms of currencies, HSBC is ranked number one for non-G3 transactions, number one in sterling, third in euros and seventh in US dollars. DOLLAR GAINS That dollar ranking might not seem much to boast about, but again the bank’s relative performance is impressive. HSBC recorded a 40bp gain in market share in US dollar transactions whereas the big five US firms that ranked ahead of the UK bank saw their market shares decline. Of the firms that ranked higher in the US dollar league table, only Barclays bettered HSBC’s performance. “Our progress in dollars has been a journey but it’s earned us the right to be on the top deals,” said Ray Doody, the other co-head of the capital markets group. HSBC has been on some of the biggest Yankee deals of the year, including Bayer’s US$15bn offering as part of its acquisition funding for Monsanto and Vodafone’s US$11.5bn deal, its first in the dollar market in more than five years, again for acquisition financing reasons. But it’s not just Yankees. Right across the spectrum HSBC is providing solutions to its clients’ needs. A good example is Daimler, a company that HSBC has helped raise funds in US dollars, sterling, offshore renminbi and onshore renminbi – the latter requiring the bank to use structured products such as total return swaps to bring in offshore investors who could not otherwise participate due to membership requirements. “The global nature of our platform has been critical in giving us the intelligence to advise clients on the best markets and windows,” said Adam Bothamley, global head of debt syndicate. This year that advice has been more important than at any time since the financial crisis given the volatile nature of markets. The bank characterises 2018 as one of “guerrilla-style” issuance – that is borrowers having to be agile to take advantage of opportunities in different currencies and markets. “We could foresee this year would be tougher,” said Jean-Marc Mercier, global co-head of debt capital markets. “Borrowers had to be ready to jump in.” Equally, HSBC had to be ready to help borrowers jump in. January and September were two obvious windows when liquidity would be better – and, like other banks, HSBC targeted those two months. But HSBC was in the markets on almost 200 days this year. “We demonstrated in times of volat

Equity capital markets is a higher profile business at Goldman Sachs than at probably any other firm. It was therefore a potential risk to not replace retiring global head of ECM Stephen Pierce in mid-2017, especially as the bank was not enjoying a vintage year. A weak year for Goldman is rather different than a weak year at other banks. The bank ranked a distant second in Asia-Pacific in 2017 and third – third! – in EMEA (and that only after a late fightback from being fifth in mid-October). That meant there was work to be done. Even without a new quarterback to call the play, the bank was on attack in every region, pushing hard from the off to make 2018 a year to remember. The resulting diverse deal roster that takes in the biggest transactions, most active sectors and a wide geographical spread results in Goldman being IFR’s Equity House in Asia-Pacific, North America and Latin America, in addition to the global title. The three regional awards are inextricably linked: Goldman is particularly strong in taking companies from overseas – most notably in 2018 those from Brazil and China – to a global audience through US listings. OUT OF NOWHERE Goldman rode high in Latin America despite heightened political risks, as locals from Mexico to Brazil voted in new presidents in 2018. Spying opportunities in a region where some competitors were curtailing their presence, Goldman expanded its footprint in LatAm by hiring senior bankers and putting its balance sheet to work. “It seemed to us that where the region was on a macroeconomic and political basis, and given what our competitors were doing, it made a lot of sense to step forward,” said Richard McNeil, co-head of Latin America investment banking. That paid off. Goldman took second spot in the LatAm league tables during the awards period, capturing a 12.9% market share that put it just behind Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which had 13% of the market. Not only is that an impressive showing for a bank that has historically rarely appeared in the top 10 in the region – let alone the top three – but its targeting of top economics on trades really propelled it into a league of its own when it came to fees. In the review period, Goldman garnered US$83.7m in underwriting fees from LatAm equity issues, making it the top earner among banks competing in this space, according to Refinitiv data. That put it comfortably ahead of the US$56.3m taken by Morgan Stanley, which came in the number two spot in terms of wallet share. “We had out-sized economics in most of these transactions,” said Facundo Vazquez, co-head of Latin America ECM. “We are not playing the market share game. We are pitching to lead.” It was lead roles on some of the biggest trades of the year – such as the sole global coordinator spot on the US$2.6bn IPO from Brazilian payments provider PagSeguro – that made the difference. Goldman leveraged its strength in the US tech space to introduce global investors to a growing list of such companies from Latin America. Aside from PagSeguro’s IPO and US$1.1bn follow-on, the bank was also global coordinator on IPOs from tech names including Brazilian payments provider StoneCo and education platform Arco. “We defined a new asset class of high-growth Latin American tech businesses and ultimately placed them with US tech and fintech investors,” said Lyle Schwartz, who runs Goldman’s LatAm ECM business alongside Vazquez. Those deals lured in new investors that had never dabbled in Brazilian stocks before, something that was important for LatAm CFOs keen to expand their reach beyond the usual local investors. “It is the first time in my experience in which it was proven that by listing in the US we could do two things: benchmark international comps to Brazil and bring US global demand into Brazil,” said Vazquez. HOME AND AWAY Goldman’s impressive showing in the

Despite gathering macroeconomic clouds and a sense of late-cycle deja vu, 2018 was a surprisingly good year for acquisition finance. A robust leveraged loan market globally saw private equity firms producing giant new-money carve-out loans, in addition to huge US investment-grade acquisitions in the first half of the year. Leveraged loans delivered one of the only positive returns of any asset class in 2018, as investors sought protection against rising interest rates. Goldman’s intellectual capital gave them what they were looking for – a wide range of deals and smooth execution despite the push and pull of supply and demand dynamics throughout the year. Private equity firms accounted for a larger chunk of borrowing in 2018 and the strength of Goldman’s sponsor business on both sides of the Atlantic put it consistently ahead with new and existing private equity clients. The bank was lead-left on deals for 45 different sponsors in 2018 – up 28% on 2017 – as the bank also continued to deliver leveraged corporate loans and grow investment-grade acquisition financing. Goldman was able to defend and increase its market share by syndicating a range of difficult, complex and creative deals that needed thoughtful cross-product placement. The bank put its money to work with US$38bn of capital commitments in 79 deals in 2018, more than a third more than the US$28bn it committed the year before, using its M&A advisory prowess to push harder in leveraged loans. “We are really integrated with our bankers. It is well known that we’re number one on M&A globally, but we also have the leading investment banking franchise, almost pound for pound, sector by sector,” said Christina Minnis, global head of acquisition finance and co-head of the Americas credit finance group. This focused the bank’s existing skills on strategic and transformative acquisitions, particularly cross-product buyout loans for private equity firms of varying size, difficulty and complexity. In total, the bank was involved in US$304bn of financings for global financial sponsor M&A deals, up 36% on 2017 and cementing a leading global position in institutional leveraged loans as sponsors took a bigger share of lending overall. “The franchise, five, seven years ago, was at a different spot from where it is today. [Goldman Sachs] today is the perennial underwriter on the Street across loans and bonds,” said Kevin Sterling, head of US leveraged finance capital markets. LEVERAGED MARKET Goldman had a very good year in the dominant US leveraged market and committed capital in seven of the 10 largest LBO financings in 2018, including KKR’s acquisition of IT solutions provider BMC Software, Blackstone’s acquisition of information firm Refinitiv, formerly Thomson Reuters’ F&R division (and publisher of IFR), and KKR’s acquisition of Envision Healthcare. The bank was lead-left on 40 sponsor deals totalling US$33bn and seven second-lien deals totalling US$1.3bn of volume. Deals included a US$1.275bn 7.25-year Term Loan B for broadband communications provider Altice USA, which was part of a complex broader transaction to combine Altice USA’s Suddenlink (Cequel) and Optimum (Cablevision) businesses into a single credit. Goldman’s merchant banking division gives the bank a big boost in leveraged financing. The unit, which is one of the biggest managers of capital globally and that includes Goldman Sachs Principal Investment Area, can buy junior debt through GS Bank, which gives comfort around the riskier part of the capital structure. The bank was involved in some of the year’s biggest US investment-grade acquisition financings, with a lead arranging role on 10 bridge loans of more than US$1bn, including a US$20bn loan (with JP Morgan) backing information technology company IBM’s acquisition of US software company Red Hat. Goldman committed US$66bn as lead arranger of bridge loans and served as lead arranger on US$111bn of bridges, which included a US$9bn loan

As 2018 opened, the bond markets were still in good shape. But emerging markets bankers at Citigroup realised that dark clouds were looming. In the US, the Federal Reserve had begun its hiking cycle, while in Europe speculation was growing about when exactly the ECB’s bond buying programme was likely to wind down and then stop. Then there was the unpredictability of the Trump administration to take into account, while within the emerging markets elections later in the year in Brazil and Mexico had to be considered. And those were just the known risks back in January. Who knew what else was around the corner? This is where the long experience of the emerging markets team at Citigroup paid off. They realised the best way to navigate volatility is to avoid it altogether. Clearly, no-one could know when exactly markets would turn but the advice to clients was unequivocal – get out while markets are still good. Citigroup’s clients listened. In the first quarter, when conditions remained largely supportive, bar a sharp bout of volatility in early February, the US firm shot out of the blocks. By the end of March it was already top of the league tables in Latin America and emerging Europe, the Middle East and Africa – positions it would never relinquish in 2018 – while in emerging Asia only HSBC and Standard Chartered had transacted more volume out of the international firms, and the latter by a whisker. “Coming into the year, there was a degree of healthy paranoia to do the best for our clients,” said Chris Gilfond, head of Latin America capital markets origination at the firm. “Clients voted with their mandates.” It would be wrong, though, to think of Citigroup as a flat-track bully, able to execute transactions only when the going was good. The firm was smart to get as much business done upfront but like every other bank Citigroup also had to confront choppier waters as the year progressed. It didn’t shirk the challenge. “We demonstrated that when the market is tricky, we’re the house to go to,” said Peter Charles, head of EMEA fixed-income syndicate. While the jumbo sovereign deals also proved difficult at times in 2018, more often it was the smaller non-headline grabbing trades that needed the most hand-holding. In emerging EMEA, they included deals for the likes of Blom Bank and Bulgarian Energy Holding. The former was the first non-government issue from Lebanon. The leads, which included Deutsche Bank as well as Citigroup, took the unusual step of putting out the final yield in its first pricing message to see what sort of book they could build. There were no realistic comparables, with the yield based on a price-discovery process. The deal also came at a time of great political upheaval in the region. In the end, Blom Bank was able to issue US$300m of five-year notes at par to yield 7.5%. BEH, meanwhile, succeeded in mid-June where regional neighbour EPP had failed just a few days before and got a deal done, glad no doubt to take €400m at 3.5% for a seven-year note issue, even if pricing was stuck at guidance. And although the size was below the €500m the company had said it was targeting a few months ahead of the trade, BEH was still able to extend its curve in a tough market. The company subsequently tapped the bond issue about a month later for €150m with Citigroup as sole lead. “These were difficult trades to manoeuvre,” said Charles. TRUSTED ADVISERS These trades were two of more than 100 over the awards period that the bank executed in emerging EMEA, more than any other bank. But perhaps more impressive than the number of deals on which Citigroup has acted as a bookrunner is the number it has acted on as a global coordinator. Citigroup’s hit ratio as a global coordinator as opposed to just a bookrunner – nine to one – is far better than any other rival. It shows that clients wanted Citigroup to drive those deals rather than act as a passenger. “We want to be the global coordinator. We want clients to

“This was an end-of-cycle year,” said Adam Young, co-head of equity advisory at Rothschild. The Anglo-French firm and its clients were poised to take advantage before rate rises signalled the end of 10 years of extremely cheap money, while the longevity of its advisers meant they had a wealth of experience to call on as markets became trickier. On the M&A side, Rothschild carried out two deals for long-term clients that seemed like the final act in their corporate dramas. Australian megamall operator Westfield, for which the firm had previously acted in the demerger of its Australian and New Zealand assets in 2014, hired Rothschild again in its landmark combination with Dutch-French acquirer Unibail-Rodamco to create a global group with €61bn of assets. Rothschild’s unique talent to advise clients on strategic M&A as well as equity raisings and listings was to the fore in this deal. In addition to the headline merger, the transaction also involved the subsequent demerger of retail technology provider OneMarket onto the Australian Stock Exchange. The whole deal closed in June within six months of its announcement, some feat in a bear market for retail property. “We have had a very long relationship with the Lowy family, who founded Westfield,” said Philippe Le Bourgeois, group CEO at Rothschild. “Smaller operators are struggling in the sector but larger destination malls are more resilient.” The firm was on the other side when acting for Melrose in its hostile £7.4bn approach for larger engineer GKN. This ambitious reverse takeover was the culmination of 13 years’ work for the acquisitive company, the latest of 230 purchases since it floated as a cash shell on AIM in 2005. The bid for the FTSE 100 company was the largest truly hostile transaction in the UK since Kraft/Cadbury in 2009. The takeover of the UK confectioner had led to tougher takeover rules forcing bidders to make full offers quickly or withdraw. That ensured the saga was conducted over less than three months, with Melrose persuading 52.4% of GKN shareholders, including activist Elliott, to accept its twice-enhanced offer on March 29, having made its first approach early in the new year. The contest happened against a political backdrop where the UK government had indicated a desire to toughen up takeover procedures further to protect assets deemed vital for national security. As a defence contractor, GKN might have qualified. Rothschild was able to bring its expertise in government relations to ensure this potential stumbling block was overcome. GOVERNMENT’S CHOICE On the debt advisory side Rothschild continued to be active with government clients. It acted for Greece on its successful debt exchange targeting €29.6bn of bonds with maturities from 2023 to 2042, issued as part of the country’s 2012 debt restructuring. The proposal to amalgamate these into five more liquid benchmark bonds had an 86% take-up. The firm remains pre-eminent in debt advisory. “We have the advantage of scale,” said Helier Drage-Smith, a managing director in the debt advisory team. “We see more flow and momentum, giving us a deep level of insight.” This enabled the firm to pick the right moment to launch the first-ever UK inflation-linked bonds using CPI as a measure rather than RPI, when it advised the University of Cambridge on a £300m 50-year issue in June. This came alongside a more conventional 2.35% fixed coupon 60-year that also raised £300m. “We have advised a number of colleges on their finances, including issuing bonds privately. This was the first CPI-linked issue,” said Drage-Smith, noting that the UK government might follow this precedent and use that measure in the future too. It was a complex trade, not least because by going ahead of the UK government there is no CPI-linked Gilt, so pricing was based off RPI-linked Gilts with an estimate for the long-term difference between the two measures. It is IFR’s Europe Investment-Grade Corporate Bond of the

2018 was the year when Houlihan Lokey once again showcased the geographical reach, depth and flexibility of its restructuring practice. The company advised on all the major multi-billion dollar cross-border deals that characterised the year, while also cementing its local position across EMEA, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with a deep roster of diverse transactions for both debtors and creditors. In Europe, the firm acted for Norwegian deep-water drilling contractor Seadrill on its complex cross-border US$11bn restructuring. It also advised Greek shipping firm Danaos on its US$2.4bn restructuring and UK restaurant chain Prezzo on its £155m deal. In the Americas, Houlihan burnished its reputation when representing creditors in the largest ever Brazilian extra-judicial reorganisation: tackling more than US$5bn of debt at Odebrecht Oil & Gas. Elsewhere, natural resources and power continued to be an active sector for restructuring, with Australian coal mining services operator Wicet being a client as well as creditors of Westinghouse Electric. “We are global-local,” said Joseph Swanson, senior managing director, co-head of European restructuring. ”Being local we can do smaller local transactions as well as the large global deals. We can serve clients whoever and wherever they are.” “We have been positively surprised by activity this year.” The past year has seen the restructuring market head towards the end of a cycle, with the decade-long hiatus in significant deal flow coming to an end as companies have begun to feel the pinch of a credit market contraction and the painful end of easy money. Against this backdrop, Houlihan shifted slightly from its creditor-side focus in 2017 and worked on a significant and growing number of company-side mandates in 2018. DRILLING DEEP Seadrill was arguably the most prominent EMEA deal to close in 2018. The Norwegian group – a casualty of the downturn in the oil price – completed its deal using a US Chapter 11 plan of organisation. This tool is increasingly being used in European restructurings, as companies struggle to bind large and diverse lender groups into debt deals. “We had to drive the restructuring. It was hard to play a balancing act between cram-down and a deal,” said David Hilty, co-head of financial restructuring. Under the terms of the deal Seadrill agreed to an injection of US$1.08bn of new money, equitised US$2.3bn in unsecured bond obligations and extended maturities under its secured bank facilities by around five years. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in September 2017 with the support of 97% of its banks and 40% of its unsecured bonds. Two alternative plans were submitted before a global settlement was reached in February 2018 that had the support of 70% of the unsecured bonds. “There were 13 different bank groups and bonds in all different jurisdictions. We had to cut lots of deals. It had to be a very measured and organised process with plenty of opportunities for checks and balances,” said Hilty. Also in Norway, the firm advised a bondholder committee on Norske Skog through the final round of the paper maker’s laboured restructuring, which had been drawn out over four years. Houlihan was ultimately in the decision position, advising the group of senior secured noteholders led by Oceanwood. That group ended up buying out other creditor positions and taking control of the operating company with much reduced leverage of 1.7 times Ebitda against 12 times pre-deal. RETAIL THERAPY Globally, retail has become the hot sector of 2018 in restructuring and here Houlihan made its mark. The firm played a key, and very high-profile, role advising food retailer Agrokor on its €6bn restructuring. This had a political overlay as Agrokor is the largest private employer in the Balkans and one of Croatia’s most systemically important businesses, employing 60,000 staff. The debt-for-equity deal was done under emergency legislation, dubbed Lex Agrokor. This

HSBC may no longer brand itself as “the world’s local bank”, but its on-the-ground presence in every corner of the world remains a major calling-card for the bank’s public sector business. With a presence in 66 countries, the almost 100 bankers on the team are only ever a phone call away from the bank’s wealth of local relationships and insights – whether in Algeria or Chile, Lebanon or Vietnam. Those bonds are important enough during the good times, but they really come into their own when things get tricky. For many governments, 2018 will go down as a year that falls into the latter category. Rising rates, a soaring US dollar and geopolitical tensions wrought financial pain on countries around the world. Many of the worst-affected turned to HSBC for its expertise during their most difficult hour. Argentina is a case in point. A darling of the markets ever since it struck a historic deal with creditors in March 2016, it priced US$100bn of deals in a short period, until sentiment began to change at the start of the year after its central bank ditched inflation targets. As the year progressed, the peso would halve in value against the dollar, forcing the government to seek help from the International Monetary Fund. Through it all, HSBC was by the country’s side. The bank pushed Buenos Aires to tap markets early in the year, to sew up funding before things got too choppy. It led a US$9bn triple-tranche bond deal in January. Its long-standing partnership with the country – it has had an active role on US$35bn of the US$44bn of bonds printed by the sovereign since the return to markets – was key. In March, as things were getting tougher, the bank showed its commitment by closing a US$1bn sovereign repo facility with Argentina that would provide 18 months of funding needs – all secured by dollar bonds issued by the country. It was the third repo deal that HSBC had done with the country, and – during its moment of need – illustrated the bank’s dedication, even as others pulled back. EGYPT WORK That commitment during the difficult times can pay dividends when the good times return. Such a transition played out for the bank in Egypt during 2018 when, after a few difficult years, the country began to enjoy a dramatic turnaround. HSBC, which had helped the country plug a hole with a US$2bn repo transaction during those difficult times, was a natural partner once markets reopened. “Egypt is another country where we have a very large on-the-ground presence,” said Michael Ellam, head of public-sector banking. “Clearly, over the past few years they have been going through a process of quite challenging economic circumstances and we have been able to work with them and assist them by mobilising our international network of expertise and by bringing in overseas investors.” In February, it led Egypt’s US$4bn sovereign bond issue. It is a leading adviser on the country’s vast privatisation programme that will raise E£80bn (US$4.5bn) of much-needed funds for the government, and has already been mandated as a lead on the IPO of Alexandria Mineral Oil Company. It has arranged numerous export finance transactions – including a vital US$1bn facility for the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation. “We were sole coordinator, sole underwriter and sole bookrunner, and there we delivered the funding within 30 days and syndicated it within 60 days,” said Ellam. “We had to move quickly, and the significance of the transaction for the country and the company was that it did enable the EGPC to clear their arrears with the international oil companies and put them on a more stable funding.” VISION 2030 In Saudi Arabia, which has also embarked on a vast overhaul of its economy, HSBC has become a key adviser to the government. It has been chosen as a financial adviser on a series of public-private partnership projects in the health and education sectors. It was also a lead arranger on a US$11bn loan for the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, which is b

When you’re at the top of your game, it’s easy to become complacent. After a record-breaking year in 2017 for its financial and strategic investors group, for which it won IFR’s inaugural Bank of the Year for Financial Sponsors award, it would have been rather understandable if Goldman Sachs had decided to just leave the business be. But if anything has driven the success of the FSIG business over the past 15 years, it is a constant ability to spot new opportunities – for its clients, and for itself. And so, as 2018 began, the group was already working on its latest set of initiatives to ensure that it remained at the top, whether that be in generating investment ideas, financing deals, or boosting its own share of the wallet. “It’s actually mind-blowing when we think what the opportunities are for this business,” said Alison Mass, global head of FSIG. “We really are the firm that drives this market, and I think we drive change in the market. We feel like a lot of firms fall in behind us because a lot of what we do is obvious – once we do it.” Conscious of the ever-expanding tentacles of its private equity and strategic investor clients, this year Goldman launched a new initiative to deepen its coverage of sponsor portfolio companies, especially those valued at less than US$2bn that often fall off banks’ radars once they are taken private. To achieve that, FSIG doubled its own coverage team, which sits apart from Goldman’s other coverage bankers. “They are not an M&A person, they are not a sponsor coverage person where they are covering Blackstone, or KKR or Carlyle,” said David Friedland, global head of FSIG’s mergers and acquisitions group. “They cover the CEOs and management teams of the actual sponsor portfolio companies within an industry vertical.” COVERAGE EXPANSION In the past year alone, Goldman has increased its coverage of such sponsor portfolio companies by more than 500 entities. Monitoring these companies closely and building relationships with management – after many of Goldman’s rivals had moved on – has helped generate a huge amount of ancillary business for the bank, with bolt-on M&A, financing, advisory and exit potential constantly identified by dedicated bankers. “In the industry groups, it all skews towards the larger companies,” added Friedland. “If they have a list of companies of US$10bn and up, and another list of US$10bn and below, you know where the emphasis is going to go. So how do we make sure that these sponsor portfolio companies get all the attention they are supposed to do? The set-up we have is pretty unique.” Pulse Electronics, which was taken private by Oaktree Capital Management three years ago, is a prime example of where the set-up has worked. The company would normally fall between the gaps of tech and industrials coverage teams. But a new FSIG coverage hire identified the company as having potential. Within months, it engineered the sale of Pulse to Taiwanese manufacturer Yageo for US$740m. Another initiative has been the build-out of the business’ family office coverage. The £2bn purchase from KKR of schools operator Cognita by the Jacobs family of Switzerland is illustrative of the growing importance of family offices in the strategic investment space. Goldman was lead-left on the £800m debt package behind the deal, which went to syndication just as the awards period considered by IFR was coming to an end. For the bank, the mandate on the Cognita deal was the culmination of a highly successful year in serving its family office clients. Goldman also advised Sirva, the removal company part-owned by Sam Zell’s Equity Group Investments, on its sale to Madison Dearborn Partners. The bank also advised US Security Associates on its sale to Allied Universal, which is owned in part by the Wendel family. SELLSIDE DOMINANCE But the year hasn’t just been about deepening its client base. The FSIG team has also been hard at work bringing ideas, financing, advising and helping