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What does M&A Advisory do?
3
M&A's global strategy
What's NewS Issue 2 March 2000 I I
t_
z
High profile
Knowledge based
Research backed
TIME
company
operating
normally
Rabobank ideas
anticipating
change
knowledge
information analysis
presentation
change
new management
market changes
poor financial
performance
major regulatory
changes
analysis of
strategie options
major report
to board
on options
- strategie/
financial
who does what?
operational financial
management
consultant
strategie/
corporate advisor
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z
H
—1
O
strategie/
corporate
advisor
M&A
flotation
J-V/licence
who does what?
operational reorganization acquire/merge/
internat staff divest/financial
plus management consultant restructuiïng
strategic/corporate
advisor
to grow in that period because the retail
market grew. A couple of niche sectors
have Consolidated, such as sugar. But a
huge chunk of the chain has still to get
started. That opens up real opportunities
for lis.' Strittmatter picks up the story.
'Basically, what we have to do is identify
what we call the "consolidators", that is
the company or companies which recog-
nize development patterns and trends and
act on them. They hegin to increase their
strength in the sector through acquisition
of other players. Ecke-Granini is a consol-
idator - not only in the German domestic
market, but on a European basis.'
Which is why - at least in part - the
Frankfort team is so enthusiastic about
tb is latest juice deal. 'It also helps to huild
our reputation for finding suitahle and
attractive partners for our clients,'
confirms Strittmatter. Adds Brian Havill,
'actually, 1 believe Rabobank was involved
in one capacity or another in more or less
all the major F&A deals in Europe last
year. If there's a high profile deal
being done in the sector, we tend to be in
it.' And that statement may well soon
apply to more global transactions. Our
people in the Americas are working hard
on building a similar kind of reputation,
not only as a strong domestic player in the
IIS and LatAm, but also as a creator of
trans-Atlantic opportunities. The Suiza
Foods/Leche Celta dairy deal is written up
in our deals section (sec pages 12/14), so
we will not go into it again here. But, as
Dan Hebert, who is responsible for our
M&A activities in the Americas, points
out, 'this is a classic example of what you
can do if you cooperate.'
The deal canre about when the Dallas
office passed on the message that dairy
company Suiza Foods was looking for
European expansion. 'The New York
team pitched to the company on our
capahilities in Europe,' says Havill.
'Later, we put on a whole dog and
pony show with someone frorn each
European team showing the LIS cliënt
what we could do. In my view, we were
able to convince this important cliënt
that no other bank can talk about any
F&A sector, and especially dairy, with
the same depth of expertise as
Rabobank International.'
Research and the knowledge that is
derived from it is key in the Global
M&A team's arsenal of tools and
resources. And it is not only the macro
knowhow generated by FAR that plays
a role. 'We claim to be research backed,
industry focused and cliënt oriented,'
explains Havill. 'And we are all of those
things because in addition to the
excellent studies produced by FAR, we
pursue client/corporate research of our
own aimed specifically at building the
knowledge crucial to success in M&A.'
Ir is the consistency of this kind of
approach to growing the Rabobank
name as a mature and preferred partner
in our selected sectors that have won us
a spate of major M&A mandates. Top
deals in our sector, such as the recently
signed Tata/Tetley transaction and others
of perhaps less massive but equally
significant proportions, are placing RI's
M&A capability firmly on a world map
crowded with competition. But in the
end, it seems, our commitment to sector
knowledge, industry expertise and
customer focus is a combination that
can bring in the business.
be preferred strategie advisor in chosen
sectors, induding F&A, transport logistics,
and Rabobank Nederland
global M&A services for mid-market and
selected large companies
strategie advice
origination and execution
advisory plus financing/product cross-selling
research, sector knowledge,
advisory network
cross-border transactions
expanded sector coverage
(IT/Telecom, Utilities, energy, construction)
