This year's special report on Germany finds the country confounding the doubters in many areas. Despite concerns about the ability of the Grand Coalition government to deliver on reform, the still booming world economy has boosted economic growth, and against that background, corporates are increasingly looking beyond the country's borders for acquisition-driven growth opportunities. Investment bankers are naturally hoping to reap the rewards. However, as the market becomes more competitive, foreign firms have eroded local players' market share...Read more
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Despite concerns about the ability of the Grand Coalition government to deliver on reform, a booming world economy has helped Germany confound doubters and boost economic growth. Scott Livermore of Oxford Economics surveys the politico-economic scene and assesses the potential for further reform.
With the German economy seeing strong growth, and corporates increasingly looking beyond the country's borders for acquisition-driven growth opportunities, investment bankers are hoping to reap the rewards. The market is becoming more competitive though, and foreign firms have eroded local players' market share. Mark Baker reports.
ECM activity in Germany is running at its highest level since the market peak of the Neuer Markt days. The focus of international banks is on large transactions, leaving an opening for others to compete with smaller issues. But while volumes are soaring, it remains a challenge to bring Mittlestand firms to market. Owen Wild reports.
Landesbank Berlin’s announcement that it will reject the Pfandbrief framework in favour of its own structure rocked the domestic market. Opinion is divided: its advocates commend the German Pfandbriefe for being the purist of covered bond structures, while others maintain that smaller savings banks struggle to gain access to funding. Rachelle Horn investigates where the trade-off between high standards and inaccessibility lies.
The outlook for the German securitisation market has never been better, with volumes forecast to rise further after a bumper 2006. But last year's growth driver, multi-family CMBS, is likely to take more of a back seat, and although it has survived a recent tax reform, the TSI platform has its limitations. William Thornhill reports.
The German loan market is proving something of a mystery. After years of lagging the UK and France, the German market finally looked like it had come of age in 2006 with a string of jumbo acquisition financings. However, Germany has begun 2007 with a whimper and the market is now under pressure to prove it is not a just one-year wonder. Nachum Kaplan reports.
Germany has long been considered the promised land when it comes to LBOs. The market is small relative to its economy and therefore chould have huge potential for growth. And with European leveraged finance booming in general, there is no reason Germany cannot live up to its promise – unless the LBO market crashes first. Nachum Kaplan reports.
The global hunt for yield in restructuring markets has seen a slew of hedge funds converge on Germany over the past two years, in a gold rush that has brought treasures for many. But activity is now retreating to more sensible levels as the less prepared funds find themselves conceding defeat to a successful few. Richard Jory and Chris Bourke report.
The German warrants and certificates markets are going from strength to strength. The sector forms Europe’s biggest securitised derivatives market, and participants say that it is far from peaking. The number of recent entrants to the market attests to growth expectations. Jean Haggerty reports.
The promotion given by Deutsche Boerse to its rebranded Entry Standard junior market has boosted activity in Germany. Deal sizes have quickly accelerated to over €100m in some cases, with companies taking advantage of the greater flexibility and lighter regulation. One notable feature of these deals is that the lead advisers are often less familiar names – such as Equinet Securities. Owen Wild reports.