Charting progress
european financial g merger
Surfers at work
Initially, the marriage between Rl and DG was conceived as a joint venture
created following a phased integration, with pre-established goals and
milestones. In practice, it will now be approached in a highly organic fashion.
Here follows an overview of steps that will be taken.
Critical cornerstones
Single bank
Early implementation
DG B4NK O
WORK IN PROGRESS
Timeline
12 What's NewS Issue 4 June/ July 2000
The revised IXïRI merger process is
based on a structure which will allow
the needs of the various businesses in-
volved to drive the process. It should cre-
ate a stable environment in which all com-
ponents in the joint venture can flourish.
This is how the Steering Committee de-
scribed the agreed cornerstones for further
development at a recent meeting.
'You can also use a different metaphor,'
says Ton Toebosch, 'and see the compo-
nents we are working on as drawers that
will ultimately fit into a cupboard, but
we're focusing on the content first.' These
cornerstones or 'drawers', as you may
have seen in the newSventure (8 June) are:
First pbase (based on quick wins)
DG will acquire a 50% stake in Rabo
Securities, creating DG-Rabo Securities
(see story on page 3); and
DG's international network will be inte-
grated with our own. This means the
transfer of DG's non-investment banking
related business from its own interna
tional branches and rep offices to RI. We
will establish German desks along the
lines of Dutch Desks for DG's corporate
clients. DG will maintain its own invest-
ment banking units in New York, London
Where do you go whcn you surf
the Net? What's NewS want
to know. We're looking for useful
and informative websites to include
in upcoming issues. Please contact
Mirjam Diepenbrock by e-niail with
your web tips and a brief descrip-
tion of the site(s).
and Tokyo until all RI and DG corporate
and investment banking activities are
brought into DGRI; and
our Frankfurt branch will be integrated
into DG. DG's Amsterdam rep office will
be transferred to Rabobank.
Second pbase
separation of Rl from our parent orga-
nization; DG's investment banking and in
ternational network will be separated
from its parent.
What do these three moves mean? When
will they take place? And where will they
lead? Basieally, the original idea would
have created DGRI by 'big bang'. Now, it
will grow more organically. During 2001,
Rabobank International will be 'unrav-
elled' in the legal sense from Rabobank
Nederland. Similarly, DG BANK will sep
arate its international corporate and in
vestment banking businesses no later than
March 2002. These moves and the corner
stones mentioned above will be laid down
in a so-called umbrella document between
the two parents before the end of the year
(2000). If all goes according to plan,
DGRI will be working as a single bank by
mid-2002.
While separation issues often seem ab
stract, more concrete is the integration of
the two international networks. DG's non-
investment banking related business and
all the assets of its international branches
and representative offices, including peo-
ple, will be brought into the Rabobank In
ternational network. German desks will
be set up alongside the now familiar
Dutch desks - this will give us the oppor-
tunity to meet and offer services to DG's
corporate customers. What this should
mean is real opportunities for us all. If
you are wondering what is happening
about the investment banking side of DG's
international operation (in New York,
London and Tokyo), it will be integrated
into DGRI once all corporate and invest
ment banking activities have been brought
into the joint venture by both parties. The
new structure obviously has implications
for RI in Frankfurt. Our branch there will
be transferred by year end and our people
will join DG there.
Rabobank
International
Re-construction underway: the symbol used at
the recent meeting at Noordwijk
The timelines for these actions are sum-
marized here:
2000 (year-end):
- umbrella agreement on integration;
- sale of 50% stake in Rabo Securities to
DG;
- Rabobank Frankfurt and DG Amster
dam close;
- DG transfers non-investment related in
ternational business to RL
2001: legal separation of RL
March 2002: legal separation of DG's
corporate and investment banking busi
nesses.
Mid-2002: DGRI acts as one bank.