< GMI Home
“Exceptional Opportunities to Interact with Clients and Highlight Our Potential” Senior Merrill Lynch Executives Join World Leaders in Davos April, 2008

Among Top Honors, Firm Named Best M&A Adviser in Japan

Merrill Lynch captured a series of coveted awards from Asiamoney for performance excellence and deal execution in Asia, including a top honor, Best M&A Adviser in Japan.

In its annual Deals of the Year awards for 2007, the magazine, the leading monthly capital markets publication in Asia, also named the firm a winner of four awards for its deal execution.

Best M&A and Best Leveraged Finance transactions went to the firm for its work with Japan Tobacco, Best Equity-Linked Issue was awarded for raising capital for Resona Holdings, and Best International Bond cited the firm's excellence in completing an offering for Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG).

"Successful banks had to mix wise counsel with innovative funding ideas and clever execution," Asiamoney wrote in describing the awards. It added that the cited banks "did the best job" in leading "trailblazing deals."

In citing Merrill Lynch as best M&A advisor, Asiamoney said the franchise "deserves recognition" for its work with, among other companies, Japan Tobacco, Tanabe Seiyaku, Aeon Mall, Korea's MBK Partners, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities and JSAT Corp.

The magazine called Japan Tobacco's $19.1 billion acquisition of United Kingdom rival Gallaher Group "the monster acquisition from Japan last year," adding that it was the largest cross-border deal from a Japanese acquirer and the biggest cash-only transaction.

"Unusually," Asiamoney said, Japan Tobacco elected to choose only a single advisor, Merrill Lynch, and in one stroke became the world's third largest tobacco manufacturer. "In the end, the acquisition was extremely smooth," the magazine said, also citing the firm's commitment to finance the deal.

"Overall, Merrill deserves plaudits for having the courage of its convictions to financially support a prestigious M&A mandate, and for demonstrating that it could deliver in all aspects of M&A advisory and financing work," Asiamoney said.

Among major tier-one financing efforts from Japan's major banks, the magazine said the $2.6 billion bond offering from SMFG was too large for the local yen market. So instead, SMFG looked to sterling and U.S. dollars, "and investors showed that they were extremely keen to respond," Asiamoney said. "And despite the flurry of issuer activity before it, SMFG achieved a stellar result."

The convertible share issue from Resona Holdings was, the magazine said, impressive for its sheer size and the skill with which sole bookrunner Merrill Lynch underwrote and arranged it.

"For size, structure and willingness of an investment bank to underwrite a Japanese institution so comprehensively, Resona's deal takes this year's equity-linked prize," Asiamoney said.