Bright future
Ed Smith
résumés. 'One of our key focuses is
leveraging our relationships to become
the mandated lead arrangerof
syndicated loans. We recently won the
mandate to jointly underwrite and
arrange, along with three other banks, a
US$950 million syndicated loan facility for
STT/Telekom Malaysia, in connection
with the acquisition of Idea/Escotel in
India. We also recently underwrote €95
million of a €335 million syndicated loan
for EWT in Germany. Each of these deals
is expected to generate over €1 million
in fees in 2005 and we anticipate many
more opportunities such as these
emerging in future,' says Smith.
Another focus area is cross-selling
Rabobank products and services to
clients. Smith: We work closely with
colleagues in different product groups to
devise solutions that match clients' needs
and we're currently focusing on
delivering commercially attractive
Structured Finance solutions, sometimes
based on models implemented
elsewhere. For example, we are presently
speaking with two clients in Asia about
the US$1 billion financing of a new
mobile network, the concept for which is
based on a recent construction for F&A
clients in the UK.'
The TMI sector can be characterised as
vibrant, dynamic and positive, and the
future looks bright for the next 10 years,'
Smith enthuses. 'The Asian market, for
example, currently represents only 15-
20% of global TMI business. Growth
projections for mobile telephony in India
show the number of subscribers rising
from 40 million to over 150 million, by
2009. We already have good relationships
with all the major players there and
expect to be involved in any major deals
that occur. I've recently visited a number
of companies in China and I can see
massive potential in leveraging our
presence at both ends of the Sino-lndian
business corridor. Our European cliënt
network also gives us a competitive
advantage amongst Chinese equipment
manufacturers, as they try to develop a
footprint in Europe, and we genuinely
have the potential to become the partner
bank for several Chinese telecom
companies. In South America, we are
doing business with subsidiaries of
European clients (e.g.Telefonica and
Telecom Italia) and this is helping us to
gain more familiarity with local TMI
markets. We are very optimistic about
developing meaningful business in this
region, while maintaining an acceptable
risk profile.'
'In terms of revenue targets, we're aiming
to doublé, and perhaps even triple, our
net profit over the next 3 to 4 years,'
Smith concludes. The only limit is our
own ambition and, believe me, we're not
short of that.'
