Roving
Logging onto logistics
STRATEGIST
WHAT'S News Issue 1 January 1998
health care
9
make sure your information is accurate.'
Jp'utting together the picture has led to a
cluster of potential areas where
Rabobank can generate customer value.
'Because we have built up our knowledge
of this industry sector by sector, we are in
a good position to distinguish various
opportunities and to understand what is
needed in each sector,' Schulze notes.
'When you first go into a sector, you have
to know which are the best providers and
why. You may not get as good a return,
but there's cachet and there's certainly
the learning curve which can show us
why this particular provider is the best
and the strongest.'
INTERMEDIARY ROLE
Once you have built some reputation
and credibility, you can provide a
number of brokered - fee-earning -
^services, many of which have very little
to do with credit. 'We are frequently
asked by clients to suggest so-called
technical partners for them,' Schulze
explains. 'For example, a hospital will
come to us and say: 'We want to
improve our practice protocols to
become more effective in providing
consistent, good quality medicine. We
can and do help by introducing them to
partnerships with US or European
hospitals. This has nothing to do with
the traditional banking role of credit
provider, and has everything to do with
the solution organizer approach to
customer value.' Other areas where
consultancy is earning fees for our health
care teams is in financial advisory
services. 'Many of the private hospitals
^trowing up alongside basic public care
i^trovisions need to consider how to
finance expansion. Often, they have no
experience in this area. After building a
technical partnership, they might begin
looking for investment - both foreign
Since the successful launch of health care
activities in the US, New York-based Dick
Schulze has built on the experience
gathered over the past five years to
analyze potential new markets around
the world. Brazil and France have already
had the Rabo-treatment, now it is
Mexico's turn. What is our roving health
care strategist looking for and how can
we adapt our offering to meet national
needs?
and domestic, both equity and debt. So
you see, if we provide these services to
the customer, we're already doing a lot
of business with hint and have won his
confidence.' We will also have made
quite a lot of fee income on the
relationship without a credit line in
sight.
PRODUCTTRANSPLANTS
But this does not mean RI never finances
health care deals. Export finance is one
area where interactivity between various
disciplines within the bank comes into
play. 'And we also have the ability to
provide straight banking services, lending,
that type of thing,' Schulze says - not
yOA*. U+^OAA/')
Rabobank Deutschland has had an
official name change - they are now
referred to as Rabobank International
Frankfurt Branch.
quite as an afterthought, but almost.
Clearly, the focus is shifting gradually to
the new style of solution organizer who
can use knowledge of the domestic health
care system to seek out structures for
customers that are inspired by the
customer value concept rather than the
need to extend credit.
Rabobank International London branch
was lead sponsor of this year's World
Logistics Conference, held in London
early December. The conference began
with UK-based Ocean Group's
announcement of their intended
acquisition of VO Intexo, a major
logistics group with operations
throughout northern Europe. The
transaction was initiated by our M&A
team who are acting as exclusive
financial advisor to Ocean Group, the
most highly rated company in the
transport sector of the London Stock
Exchange. The timing of this
announcement with the World Logistics
Conference provided a doublé boost for
our profile in this sector. Director of
London's M&A department Nicolas
Thum is responsible for building the
branch's advisory service to the
Transport and Logistics sector. He feels
that historically Rabobank has been
unduly modest about its credentials in
transport and persuaded the bank that
sponsorship of this event would provide
an excellent marketing opportunity.
ATTENTION TO DETAIL
Consolidation within the logistics industry
and the creation of large international
corporates, which provide a complete
range of integrated transport services, is
providing many opportunities for business
not only in the area of M&A, but for all
the bank's financial products. In M&A
terms, the total value of global transport
transactions has reached some USD 50
billion in 1997, meaning an all time record
for the second year running. Peter Witzel,
an independent consultant based in
Germany, has worked with the M&A
teams in both London and Utrecht on
opportunities within the transport and
logistics sector. According to Witzel, ours
was the only bank he had ever come across
with 'a real understanding of both the
important issues, and the associated
details, facing companies and individuals
in the transport and logistics sector.' It is
this knowledge and expertise which can
give us the edge required to take a leading
position in the provision of strategie and
financial services to the major players,
both in Europe and internationally.
On stage on logistics
- left to right: Jane
Boyes, Nicolas
ThumJeremy
Davidson and Chris
Peacock
At SAS
Rabobank
International
01 Ernst
PtiCOCK
OiVIOSOH
JHUM
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