orgamzation
New publication
Synergy and flexibility
Positive prospects
I 2. Wh at S NewS Issue 1 January/Februory 2000 9
Willem Beelaerts van Emmichoven, RS chair:
'We're back doing what we do best...'
The overall aim is to become a major
player on the Dutch market that revolves
around companies with a smaller and
medium sized capitalization, whatever
their business might be; in other words, as
Ton Toebosch, RI's chairman, expresses it,
'Rabo Securities' strategie focus will be
more influenced by market capitalization
than sector.'
The reasons for this are explained by RS's
corporate advisory chief and deputy
general manager Dominique Bech. 'This
mid cap market is one that our competi-
tors have been unable to fully exploit to
date. We're perfectly positioned to do so
ourselves - this is where we can really
raise our visibility and further build
market confidence. Our office network is
a real strategie asset not just in terms of
the associated customer relationships but
as an outlet for the distribution of prod-
ucts as well. And the WorldOnline deal
shows how we've been able to move up
the value chain and establish a good
position for ourselves in this field.'
Another recent decision that lends clarity
to the overall picture is the commitment
to our M&A operation, which has been
somewhat restructured. Brian Havill
continues as global head of M&A, also
operating under the ambit of the business
unit 'equity and international M&A'.
His unit will focus on the large inter-
nationally active firms in the food and
agribusiness sector as well as selected
other markets that are deemed attractive
in the context of the DG link. The Dutch
M&A activities, meanwhile, have been
fully integrated into corporate advisory of
Rabo Securities as of 1 January, and is
linked to the global M&A network.
'The benefits of this arrangement are quite
clear,' Dominique Bech explains. 'If we're
advising a cliënt who wishes to position
itself for an IPO, for example, we might
well advise him to seize an attractive
investmenr opportunity in order to
strengthen the business before coming to
market. Alternatively, the cliënt might
need to dispose of some unneeded opera-
tions. This falls into the lap of M&A.
Similarly, if we've helped a company raise
needed funds, and thereby established a
relationship with thern, we may find that
they come back for help in expanding or
restructuring their business. Either way,
there's a strong synergy between our
primary equities business and M&A, and
this has now been structurally formalized.
This fact, together with improved lines of
communication with relationship manage
ment within RI, means that all our
energies can be better directed to the sarne
goal. We should be in a much stronger
position to leverage our expertise.'
Another important change within corpo
rate advisory has been that, while senior
staff are grouped under sectors such as
The bank's Quarterly View, Q1 2000, is now
out. Main themes in this issue are the interaction
between cyclical growth acceleration on a global
basis; structural changes to economies (especially
the US), and to financial markets.
If you would like to know more or want to order
a copy of Quarterly View Q1 2000, please
contact Marketing RI, +31 30 216 2804, or
Global Research at London Branch.
Dominique Bech, 'we're perfectly positioned to
exploit the mid-cap market...'
Utilities, media and telecom, 1T, and
financial services, a substantial part of the
advisory staff forms is grouped into a
flexible pool that can work across sectors.
This helps cultivate the team spirit and
prevents the formation of stand alone
'islands' of specialization. At the santé
time, RS has dedicated itself to further
developing its strong research and sales
coverage for its large institutional clients.
'Looking back on the events of the last
few months, one might wonder what all
the fuss was about,' Beelaerts says. 'In the
financial world, top executives and even
entire teams move with some regularity.
The important thing is that we have
restored confidence among our customers
- remember that our clients aren't faint
hearted - indeed we've even established a
few fresh relationships - and our underly-
ing business remains profitable and quite
brisk. What's more, looking beyond the
WorldOnline transaction, 1 can teil you
that we're in the advanced stages on
several other important deals. I can't offer
your readers any details quite yet, but
the prospects are looking positive. So the
message is that we've moved out of the
damage control phase. We're back doing
what we do best, which is building
value and creating a positive profile on
our core market.'
'The active support of senior management
at Rabobank has shown itself to be abso-
lutely crucial to winning important deals,'
says Beelaerts. 'There was a time when it
seemed that the road front Utrecht to our
office in Amsterdam was a lot longer that
the road from here to head office. This
is now changing, and the result should
benefit all of the players concerned.'
