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The Group is the leading
provider of corporate banking and financial markets solutions to large and
medium sized businesses in the UK and increasingly to large corporate customers
in Europe. It meets their short and long-term needs in financing, risk
management and general banking.
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We have one of the largest
teams of relationship managers of any UK bank, with strong industry expertise.
We also have one of the largest UK networks of corporate banking offices.
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We continue to be No 1 in
European leveraged finance, No 1 in European mezzanine finance and No 1 in
European project finance 1.
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Lombard is the No 1 player in
the UK asset finance market.
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We are the No 1 payments bank
in the UK and have an exceptionally strong international capability. We provide
our customers with a global service and a range of innovative solutions covering
trade finance, payments and cash management.
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Our Financial Markets business
has dealing relationships with over 200 of the FTSE 250 companies. We are No 1
in UK sterling and euro foreign exchange and across a wide range of interest
rate management products.
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We are the market leader in
syndications in Europe, having arranged more deals than any other bank.
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Our invoice finance business,
The Royal Bank of Scotland Commercial Services, was named Invoice Discounter of
the Year 2, while the acquisition of Euro Sales Finance plc has strengthened our
leading position in the UK and extended our operations into France, Germany and
the Netherlands.
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We were named No 3 in the
Euroweek Sterling Bond League Table – in 2000 we were outside the top ten. Our
expertise and success as a top sterling bond house has benefited many of our
customers including Tesco, John Lewis Partnership, Boots, Centrica and National
Grid.
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Financial Markets has been
ranked No 1 in 11 currency and interest rate derivative categories 3 reinforcing
our position as the No 1 UK derivatives dealer. Significant growth has been
achieved in euro and US dollar transactions.
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Launched in February 2001, the
Global Treasury Funds Sterling Fund is the fastest growing money market fund of
its kind and has rapidly secured market share in the UK and Europe 4. By the end
of 2001, funds under management topped £1.5 billion.
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Agency Treasury Services is a
premier UK provider of treasury outsourcing solutions to corporate and
institutional customers in the UK, Europe and North America.
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Our regional network of
treasury centres has been strengthened with the addition of a new
state-of-the-art facility in Birmingham and significant upgrades in Bristol,
Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh.
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We have a leading position in
Europe in leveraged finance with offices in Paris, Milan, Frankfurt and Madrid.
We have extended the range of products and services available to our European
corporate and institutional customers to encompass a full suite of debt, debt
capital markets and risk management products.
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We worked with Glas Cymru for
over a year on an innovative financial structure that enabled them to acquire
Welsh Water. This structure enabled the company to raise £1.9 billion of bonds,
one of the largest ever single corporate transactions in the sterling market.
The resulting lower funding costs may help reduce average household water bills
for Welsh Water customers.
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A £1 billion sale and leaseback
– the largest seen within the UK hotel sector – was part of Nomura Principal
Finance Group’s acquisition of Le Meridien Hotels. It took just 23 days to put
the transaction together. Our transaction was key in supporting Nomura’s ability
to win the overall bid.
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A complex, innovative structure
was required for a ¤865 million leveraged finance transaction in France for the
management buyout of Lafarge Speciality Materials, the building specialists.
The ¤550 million high yield bond for German based Messer Griesheim, the largest
euro denominated industrial issue, was oversubscribed. This ten year benchmark
issue supported the leveraged buyout of Messer Griesheim from Aventis by Allianz
Capital Partners.
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£60 million was raised through
an unsecured private placement, the largest ever seen in the higher education
sector. King’s College, London secured funding until 2031 at attractive rates
for a major modernisation and capital expenditure programme, including the
largest medical school in Europe.
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We arranged a £312 million
structured sale and leaseback deal for the acquisition of 11 hotels through the
newly established RBS Hotel Investments Limited. An innovative lease structure
combining operational flexibility for Hilton ensured our success in a
competitive market.
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At £60 million, our transaction
for Chrysalis Music Ltd was the largest ever music rights-backed securitisation
and the first for an international music publisher. This transaction involved
the securitisation of their global publishing rights, international music
catalogue and the related revenues. Our team created an innovative financial
structure to accommodate the multi-jurisdictional nature of the deal.
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A £160 million limited price
index bond issue for Tesco was the first public standalone bond of its type.
Financial Markets was the sole book runner for the deal that was oversubscribed.
The transaction built on the success of the previous year’s £200 million Retail
Price Index linked bond for Tesco.
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A £165 million debt package was
arranged for the move to private ownership of Perkins Foods PLC, the European
convenience foods manufacturer.
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The multi-currency debt
structure won The Treasurer Magazine Leveraged Finance Deal of the Year.
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A US$825 million senior debt
private placement for Swiss cement manufacturer, Holcim, was the largest
traditional corporate private placement ever completed in the market. Our speed
of response, sector expertise and enthusiasm were key to winning this business
against strong competition. The proposal was put together in less than 24 hours.
A team approach between London and New York developed an innovative structure
for Holcim, raising capital with up to 30 year maturity to restructure and
extend the maturity of their bank debt.