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Bigger is better. That's the approach of multinational
businesses as they chase growth. Result: more mergers
and acquisitions (M&A), fuelled by opportunities
that emerging economies create for their own fast-
expanding champions and established big players.
But which opportunities suit growth best? Step
forward Rabobank's global M&A team.
More opportunities
This is an exciting time to be an M&A banker, especially within the
comparatively fragmented Food and Agribusiness (F&A) sector. The world
is a small place these days, and getting smaller, but the world market for
F&A is getting bigger - and more complex. Emerging economies are the
reason, globalisation the result. Last year, there were 65 percent more
M&A transactions in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) than
in the year before. These countries now account for 15 percent of global
M&A volume; fïve years ago, it was just five percent. Meanwhile, Europe's
M&A volume has fallen from its pre-2010 global share of one-third to less
than one-quarter. Such tectonic shifts demand a worldwide M&A strategy.
Which is why.just over two years ago, Rabobank's M&A team went global.
lts core clients were increasingly looking to expand to new regions and
the bank recognised the need to adopt a single strategy to originate
ideas and execute them, whether the cliënt was in North America, Latin
America, Asia-Pacific or Europe. Regional M&A Fleads were appointed,
reporting to the Global M&A Flead, an active member of the Wholesale
Clients International (WCI) management team. This strategie need also
coincided with a global vision for products and services being pursued
elsewhere in the bank.
Two years on, the strategy is already paying dividends. Information flows
faster throughout the organisation and the bank's knowledge base of
global activity has expanded. In turn, this improves the generation of ideas
for M&A. Emmanuel Durand, Global Flead of M&A, says: "It's creating more
opportunities than we had before, which is a strong benefit for our clients.
Another benefit of our globalisation - especially for our multinational
clients - is a standardised approach in how we present the product and
deliver it to the cliënt, irrespective of their location."
Juan Manuel Fernandez, Head of M&A for Latin America and Global
M&A Head for Animal Protein, concurs: "We are raising the quality of
our execution capabilities to the highest Standard across the board on a
global basis."
issue 29 0i RI WORLD
