Siam Commercial Bank
When Asiamoney asked a handful of senior bankers to nominate the best corporate and investment bank in the country, several names cropped up as being good candidates for the award. Credit Suisse undoubtedly had a strong claim, with its large number of equity-linked offerings and its strong M&A advisory capabilities. Bualuang Securities, a subsidiary of Bangkok Bank, also won accolades for the large number of equity capital markets transactions it has done.
But across the full range of businesses, a clear winner emerged: Siam Commercial Bank, Thailand’s oldest domestic bank.
SCB, for whom Wasin Saiyawan is head of corporate banking, ranked first among banks in the ECM league tables during the award period, with 12 transactions, worth $2.05 billion. It also ranked second in DCM and second in loans.
A quick look at a recent deal list also reveals its strength and market presence. Take the landmark $1.7 billion Digital Telecommunication Infrastructure Fund offering, completed in May. SCB was the sole financial adviser for this complex asset acquisition, which was the largest offering in southeast Asia during the 12-month period. The transaction was split into two phases: the first was debt financing of approximately Bt13 billion ($392 million) and the second successfully raised over Bt53 billion in equity.
This is not the only stand-out deal for SCB. It acted as joint financial adviser and bookrunner on Gulf Energy’s Bt23.9 billion IPO, completed in late November. This was the largest IPO offering in Thailand in 13 years and the biggest-ever IPO raised from the Thai private sector. It was successfully executed despite the relatively difficult timing of the issue, which coincided with the funeral of King Bhumibol. To round it off, SCB was involved in four M&A deals worth $424 million in total, making it a worthy winner of this year’s award.