The rich keep getting richer in the auction world, with white-shoe investment banks and energy boutiques attracting most of the business. A glance at the top of the table tells most of the story. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the ivory-soled of the white-shoe shops, has expanded its lead thanks to three new clients, two of which service the energy sector: gas explorer Marion Energy Ltd. and MAN Ferrostaal AG, a supplier to the petrochemical and solar industry.
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Merrill Lynch & Co.'s most recent new signing (Toreador Resources Corp.) is energy-specific, while CIBC World Markets manages to stay in the top 10 thanks to a new mining client. Then there are the energy boutiques. Tristone Capital is now in a dead heat for fourth place, against firms with far greater resources. Even with oil prices retreating somewhat from their astronomical levels (down to merely stratospheric ones), it pays to be an energy specialist.
Not only did Tristone sign a new client (Samson Exploration Ltd.) but it has a bidding war on its hands for a different client, Cadence Energy Inc., which is facing hostile bids from Daylight Resources Trust Ltd. and Barrick Gold Corp. Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Lehman Brothers Inc. keep the new business coming in as well, though it is perhaps a sign of the times that their new clients are in sectors not known to be flush with cash from commodities-related income. Instead these firms are doing business in the decidedly un-sexy tech, finance and medical device fields. Does this portend the twilight of the white-shoe hegemony? Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Or at least not yet ... - Nathaniel Baker
| Auction Advisors League Table |
| This Week |
May 23 |
Firm |
Total YTD hires |
This week's activity |
| 1 |
1 |
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
|
15 |
MAN AG (Ferrostaal) |
| |
|
|
|
Marion Energy Ltd. |
| |
|
|
|
Chemnet |
| 2 |
2 |
Merrill Lynch & Co.
|
11 |
Torreador Resources Corp. |
| |
|
|
|
Groupe Vitalia |
| 3 |
3 |
Morgan Stanley |
8 |
Huawei Technologies |
| |
|
|
|
Caixa Catalunia (Ascat insurance division) |
| 4 |
3 |
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
|
6 |
Agilysys Inc. |
| 5 |
4 |
Lehman Brothers Inc.
|
6 |
DataScope Corp. |
| 6 |
4 |
Tristone Capital |
6 |
Samson Exploration Ltd. |
| 7 |
5 |
UBS Securities |
5 |
|
| 8 |
- |
Rothschild |
5 |
Groupe Vitalia |
| 9 |
- |
CIBC World Markets Inc. |
4 |
Fortune Minerals Ltd. (Mount Klappan coal project) |
| 10 |
5 |
Greenhill & Co. |
4 |
|
TheDeal.com |
