La banque d'un monde qui change 2004 - BNP Paribas

corporatefinanceAside from a few major deals, including theacquisition of Aventis by Sanofi-Synthélabo,which was advised by BNP Paribas, the EuropeanMergers & Acquisitions market did not recoveras anticipated in 2004. Nevertheless, BNP Paribashad an excellent year and continued to winmarket share, bolstered by its strong positioningin France where Thomson Financial ranked it no. 1adviser to companies considering and completingmergers or acquisitions. Another contributingfactor to this business’ robust performance was thedevelopment of cross-border transactions, includingthe acquisition of Germany-based Messer by AirLiquide, the sale of the US company, Culligan byVeolia Environnement, and the acquisition of theDutch company, Malberg by Finland-based SanomaWsoy. Momentum in emerging countries was alsoextremely strong, both in central Europe (Bulgaria,Lithuania, Rumania, Serbia and Slovakia) andin the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran).In 2004, the main characteristics of the EuropeanPrimary Equity markets were as follows:• a weighting towards “accelerated” secondarydistributions, which raised more thanEUR 66 billion. BNP Paribas managed several keytransactions, including the sale by the Frenchgovernment of EUR 5.1 billion worth of FranceTélécom shares – the largest transaction ofthis type ever carried out in continental Europe– and the sale by Philips of EUR 723 millionworth of Vivendi Universal Shares;• an upturn in initial public offerings, withtransactions worth close to EUR 26 billion.In 2004, BNP Paribas managed the Pages Jaunesand Maroc Telecom listings, amongst others;• a decline in issues of equity-linked products,due to lower volatilities, with these issuesrepresenting EUR 13 billion in 2004.During the year, BNP Paribas managedtransactions worth EUR 1.1 billionfor France Télécom and EUR 670 millionfor Swiss Re, and remained the market leaderfor these products, ranking no. 1 in WesternEurope (source: Dealogic Equityware).BNP Paribas Peregrine raised its profile in Chinaand South-East Asia by winning the “Rising StarEquity House” award given by The Asset magazine.Performance in Asia was boosted by BNP ParibasPeregrine’s involvement in 14 secondary offeringsand four IPOs, including acting as GlobalCoordinator in the China Shipping Container LinesIPO, a transaction that ran to USD 985 million.The acquisition of Aventisby Sanofi-SynthélaboBNP Paribas advised Sanofi-Synthélaboon the acquisition of Aventis and the creationof Sanofi-Aventis, the no. 1 pharmaceuticalgroup in Europe and no. 3 in the world.At around EUR 60 billion, the unsolicited publicoffer filed by Sanofi-Synthélabo at the endof January and successfully finalised in August,represented one of the largest transactionsof its kind ever to take place in Europe.BNP Paribas was able to offer its vastexperience to partner Sanofi-Synthélaboin the various stages of this acquisition, fromits preparation right through to completion.Innovative equity note issue by Swiss ReIn 2004, Swiss Re – the world’s 2nd-leadingreinsurer – issued EUR 670 million worthof equity notes. This issue – managedby BNP Paribas – was at the forefrontof innovation for a number of reasons:• it was the first hybrid capital issue carried outby a European financial institution to be giventhe highest equity rating by Moody’s and S&P;• a derivative transaction was launchedsimultaneously, with BNP Paribasguaranteeing this strengtheningof equity, without any capital dilution;• the parity on redemption is linked to the shareprice, enabling Swiss Re to benefit from anyrise in value of its shares.