Rabobank can deliver
the best it has to its clients
when people are given
the opportunity to share
information very early
on in a dealy
then work out who best to
involve in a transaction 9
TEAM WORK
Expertise on tap
Tanja Cuppen
Tanja Cuppen:
Name changes within companies happen for many reasons and
are often misunderstood. According to Simon Parker, Global
Head of Acquisition Finance, the decision taken by Corporate
Finance to rename two of its units was pragmatic and based
principally on what's best for Rabobank's cliënt relationships.
"Certainly, moving from Leveraged Finance to Acquisition
Finance could be viewed as dropping a name which, post
the global fïnancial crisis, does seem to have some negative
connotations," says Parker. "However, what we really wanted
to do was emphasise some positives. Primarily, we wanted
to move away from the incorrect assumption that when we
undertake leveraged finance deals, private equity is our main
cliënt base. As a group, we've always involved ourselves in a
very wide range of transactions, and we wanted to emphasise
that we're not restricted to dealing purely with financial
sponsors, but frequently deal with regular corporates, milk
cooperatives and so on."
As a global operation, Corporate Finance has a wide cliënt
base and is often involved in projects that span continents.
The largest Corporate Finance teams are based in the
Netherlands but there are significant resources spread across the
international network, mainly in the Europe region and North
America, with small teams in Hong Kong and Sydney. All the
teams work on a blend of domestic and cross-border activity.
According toTanja Cuppen, Global Flead of Corporate Finance,
one of the reasons for the changes was to re-emphasise to
staff the importance of working together on cliënt situations.
"Where Rabobank can deliver the best it has to its clients is
when people are given the opportunity to share information
very early on in a project, and we can then work out who best
to involve in a transaction. We have a great deal of expertise
on tap within the department, and I think where we currently
fall down is when information isn't shared around the group
quickly enough. Therefore, by working out who the best
people are to be working on a deal, we also maximise eaming
chances for the bank. On a practical level it's up and working,
and there has already been a great deal of formal and informal
contact between the different groups. For example, Acquisition
Finance now informs Client Solutions about the opportunities
they're looking at, and the rule of thumb is that as soon as we
know, they need to know, and vice versa. And the fact that
the groups realise that there won't be any surprises coming
down the line helps to build trust."
issue 26 RI WORLD
