Rabobank Nederland Corporate Clients
Participating interests
International retail banking operations
Agri country banking
34 Rabobank Group Annual Report 2005
Core activities: wholesale banking and international retail banking
Corporate Advisory
Corporate Advisory is the Dutch specialist in capital market transactions,
mergers and acquisitions and transaction-driven advice to public and
private enterprises, government authorities and private equity investors.
Its services include initial public offerings, share placements and mer
gers and acquisitions.
In 2005, closer collaboration with Rabobank Nederland Corporate
Clients resulted in numerous placements led by Corporate Advisory.
Examples include Getronics, USG and Fugro.
Apart from serving its own client group, which consists of the large
Dutch corporates, Rabobank Nederland Corporate Clients (RNCC) also
supports the local Rabobanks in serving the corporate market. In that
context, RNCC works closely with 'product supplier' Rabobank
International. As from 1 January 2006, RNCC also meets clients' needs
for products in the area of financial logistics. The Financial Logistics
department supports clients in such fields as cash flow, liquidity and
risk management.
Due in part to RNCC's active support, the local Rabobanks succeeded in
consolidating their leading position in the primary agricultural sector in
the face of fierce competition. RNCC plays an important pioneering role
in terms of corporate social responsibility, as evident from its promotion
of investments in 'green' glass houses, among other things.
Over the past years, Rabobank succeeded in further strengthening its
position in the Dutch corporate market. This has resulted in greater
involvement in large national transactions.
Thanks to the efforts by the local Rabobanks and RNCC, Rabobank was
awarded the title of Bank of the Year in 2005.
The activities of Participations comprise Rabo Participaties and invest
ments in the Gilde funds. Rabo Participaties invests in participating
interests, aiming for participation in decision-making in the enterprises
concerned rather than actual control. One of the participating interests
acquired last year was a 49% interest in IHC Holland Merwede, a leading
dredger builder. Rabo Participaties works closely with the local
Rabobanks and Rabobank Nederland Corporate Clients. Half of the
transactions are passed on via the network of local Rabobanks.
Gilde is a leading private equity investor and specialises in buy-out
investments. In August 2005, Rabobank sold its subsidiary Gilde
Investment Management to the current management. The sale did not
affect Rabobank's participating interests in the Gilde funds.
Rabobank's international retail strategy involves the acquisition of or
participation in smaller banks - in economically promising countries -
with strong positions outside the major cities among private individuals,
small and medium-sized businesses and in the agricultural sector.
Rabobank Group's international retail operations are subdivided in agri
country banking operations and universal country banking operations.
Agri country banking focuses largely on the food and agri market.
Universal country banking has a much wider focus, which includes
small and medium-sized businesses and private individuals besides
food and agri.
The primary focus of Rabobank's international food agri operations
is on Australia, New Zealand and the United States. In Brazil, the agri
country banking operations were expanded considerably in 2005.
Australia and New Zealand
The clients in this region are served from 46 branch offices in Australia
and 28 in New Zealand. In terms of market share, Rabobank is second in
the Australian rural segment and third in New Zealand. Over the past
years, there has been a consolidation cycle in the agriculture sector that
went hand in hand with rising prices of agricultural land, causing the
lending amount per client to rise. The overall result was strong growth
in rural lending in 2005. This development has proved very attractive to
the financial sector, as reflected in the strong growth in competition in
this segment in the past few years. Last year, the range of financial advi
sory services offered was expanded and range of life insurance products
was broadened in collaboration with the Future Life insurance company.
United States and bid for shares of Community Bank of
Central California
In October 2005, Rabobank Group made a bid for the shares in
Community Bank of Central California (CBCC). CBCC's branch network
complements that of Rabobank North America (NA). The acquisition
was finalised in early 2006.
In the United States, the year 2005 was characterised by improvement of
services to clients, growth in the number of clients and further integration
of the various business units and further improvement of collaboration
between them. The merger of Rabo AgriFinance and Rabo AgServices
into Rabo AgriFinance was part of this. Also, the name of Valley
Independent Bank was changed to Rabobank NA.
In 2005, Rabobank in the United States obtained the designation
