As you may have heard by now, October was a rather tumultuous month in world financial markets. In the early parts of the month, credit was all but unavailable for nearly everybody, and hiring activity froze up as a result. Fortunately, that has now begun to change. With LIBOR easing, dealmakers are starting to dip their toes back into the market. We're not out of the woods yet, but the worst may be over (at least in loan markets; equities and the broader economy are an entirely different issue of course, but no need to go there).
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Our league table reflects this story. While we were literally unable to report new hires during the first half of the month, in the last week or two several hires by top 10 firms hit our radar. Nothing changed in the actual standings, but there were some interesting developments.
Auction Advisers League Table
Week ending Oct. 31 |
| This Week |
Last Week |
Firm |
Total hires |
New clients since last update (target, if
different from client) |
| 1 |
1 |
Goldman, Sachs & Co. |
23 |
D. Carnegie & Co. AB |
| 2 |
2 |
Banc of America Securities LLC |
18 (13*) |
General Motors Corp. (AC Delco) |
| |
|
|
|
Novator Partners LLP (Actavis Group hf) |
| 3 |
3 |
Morgan Stanley |
13 |
Anglo Irish Bank Corp. (U.S. loan book) |
| |
|
|
|
Quiksilver Inc. |
| 4 |
4 |
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
|
10 |
|
| 5 |
5 |
UBS Securities |
8 |
|
| |
5 |
Jefferies & Co. |
8 |
|
| 7 |
7 |
Barclays plc |
8 (7**) |
Ikanos Communications Inc. |
| |
7 |
Rothschild |
7 |
|
| 9 |
9 |
Tristone Capital |
6 |
|
| |
10 |
Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin |
6 |
Candela Corp. |
| 11 |
10 |
Greenhill & Co. |
5 |
|
| |
10 |
CIBC World Markets Inc. |
5 |
|
| |
- |
RBC Capital Markets |
5 |
Industrial Minerals Inc. |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
*Merrill Lynch & Co. clients |
|
|
| |
|
**Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. clients |
|
|
*Merrill Lynch clients
** Lehman Brothers clients
Source: TheDeal.com |
Goldman, Sachs & Co. continues to lead the pack by a comfortable margin. Just last week, the Wall Street institution was hired by Sweden's D. Carnegie & Co. AB to explore a possible sale. Sweden is apparently not immune to the troubles experienced elsewhere. Carnegie and Swedbank AB announced emergency measures to combat the turmoil on Oct. 27. Carnegie received a Skr1 billion ($129 million) loan from Sweden's central bank to enhance liquidity. (Sound familiar?)
Despite this hire, Goldman was unable to expand its lead. Second-placed firm Merrill Lynch & Co./Banc of America Securities LLC managed to gain ground with two hires, while third-placed Morgan Stanley scored two of its own. Morgan Stanley's new clients are interesting because neither is very likely to attract bidding wars (a retailer and a mortgage loan book; if you're interested, I have a CDS portfolio and some dot-com stocks for you as well). But Merrill/BofA was not the only restructured firm to get hired. Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc./Barclays plc was hired by Ikanos Communications Inc. Interestingly enough, that one was announced as a Barclays hire, while the BofA ones still go by Merrill Lynch (they'll sort it out eventually when the merger closes).
Finally, more signs of the times at the bottom of the table. Distressed specialists Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin are back in the top 10 for the first time since Aug. 15, replacing CIBC World Markets Inc. and Greenhill & Co. Both firms made noise earlier this year with their new energy-focused clients. That was when oil was $140 per barrel. But oil prices have since gone south, which does not bode well for ninth-placed Tristone Capital, whose clients are almost exclusively in the energy space. - Nathaniel Baker
