Edinburgh expansion Edinburgh Qj 14 WHAT'S NewS Issue 2 February 1996 SBecause our corporate banking and structured finance people O have worked so hard on this relationship, it will be much easier for us, as syndications, to compete against the NatWest's and Rothschild's of this world for the mandate on John Lewis' next syndicated "Vj deal.' But the task is not limited tp the UK and Halcrow is already working closely with other corporate banking teams in the bank throughout Europe and even as far away as Australia. BIGGER DEALS The clear orientation towards moving Rabobank up the tombstone has already paid dividends for the team at London Branch. 'We're now competing against really big names, like Chemical Bank and UBS, and winning mandates. Last year, we submitted over 20 deals to the Underwriting Committee. Of course, we didn't win the mandates on all of them. But I think the fact that last f December we put in an underwriting bid for GBP 600 million shows just how far we've come and where we want to go.' Like their colleagues in London, the three-person Edinburgh team - Neil Gullan, John Maltby and secretary Elaine Brown - are also making full use of the broader range of products the UK operation now has to offer. GROUP EFFORT By this he means his team is not only marketing the full range of treasury and corporate finance products developed by his London- based colleagues, but is also utilizing the expertise of subsidiaries, such as De Lage Landen. 'We have done two excellent deals recently with DLL in Dublin,' he says. 'One is a GBP 20 million sale and lease back for a North-Eastern automotive company. This was a new, tax-driven structure we developed specially for this company. Once it had been closed, we found we could tailor it to other cliënt needs. So that is what we've done.' TIGHT PROFESSIONAL COMMUNITY The Edinburgh team is also doing a lot more. 'As I said,' Gullan continues, 'our primary market was L&A. There are a lot of very interesting large corporates based in out target regions. So we are servicing them, of course. But now we have more products to offer, we're also looking closely at other sectors where we could Neil Gullan Set up in 1990 to service corporates in Scotland, Ireland and North-East England, the Edinburgh team has carved out a sound niche for the bank in its primary target market.' At the same time,' says Neil Gullan, 'we have managed to broaden our activities in our designated regions by capitalizing on opportunities where our growing product range can be used. In fact, you could say Edinburgh is a kind of blue-print for how we can approach the market as a group.' John Maltby provide higher added value.' According to Gullan, the professional environment in which the team operates can be of assistance in growing business. 'That's right,' he says. We not only network with our own Rabobank colleagues, but also within the business community itself here. We are increasingly receiving introductions to clients from law and accountancy firms in the region. The professional community here is relatively tight. We're finding that lawyers especially are beginning to work much more proactively for their clients. It's in their interest as coming up with creative solutions helps them preserve their cliënt base. In the end, it all comes down to networking.' SIGNIFICANT ROLE The fact that Gullan and Maltby are often introduced to clients means they rarely go in cold. 'That also helps our product specialists from London because we only bring them in when we feel there is real interest,' Gullan conforms. 'I'd say we are strong on origination and initial marketing here.' It appears as if Edinburgh's thorough marketing approach is paying dividends. The office had a very good year in 1995; among its successes are a number of good benchmark deals, including the underwriting of GBP 150 million for Scottish Power's acquisition of Manweb and the arrangement of short-time debt for long- standing cliënt Scottish and Newcastle's acquisition of Courage Breweries. 'What makes us very happy', says Gullan, 'is that these were two of the most important deals in the Scottish market last year and we had a significant role in both of them'. Elaine Brown EDINGBURGH: GRENSOVERSCHRIJDEND Vanuit Edingburgh wordt onder leiding van Neil Cullan de corporate markt van Schotland, Ierland en het Noordoosten van Engeland' bewerkt. Daarbij wordt het uitgebreide produktenpakket van kantoor London met succes gebruikt. Het benutten van de contacten met De Lage Landen in Dublin heeft ook succes: twee grote deals werden zo afgesloten.

Rabobank Bronnenarchief

blad 'What's news' (EN) | 1996 | | pagina 14