Investment Banking

The bridge between companies and investors

In the last few years, the Investment Banking area has become a benchmark in this business segment, not only in Spain, but internationally as well. Its objective is to provide a comprehensive financial service to its customers, especially corporate banking and private banking customers. To do this, it aims to provide an outstanding global advisory service to those customers who have to make major decisions on the future of their business projects and act as a bridge between companies, especially family companies, and investors who are potentially interested in supporting and financing their projects. 

With this purpose in mind, the work of the Bank involves constantly seeking out opportunities, to take advantage of abundant liquidity and the current appetite for Spanish mid-market.

In doing so, the bank has two important strengths. First, its reputation in risk management, which allows it to boast the sector's lowest non-performing loan ratio. Second, it has developed a model in which Investment Banking is not walled off from commercial activity, but rather closely linked to it. This allows customers to benefit from both the proximity of their usual manager and of a specialist corporate advisory service.

This strategy demand greater effort from the commercial branch network, but it creates substantial value in the long term, builds customer loyalty and strengthens Bankinter's position as a global banker.

The performance of the four Investment Banking growth axes in 2017 was as follows:

Mergers and acquisitions. At a time of growth in the market for buying and selling companies, Bankinter was involved in around ten operations, mostly of industrial customers and mainly acting as adviser to the sellers.

Capital markets. It was a year of intense activity. The listing of Netex on the Alternative Stock Market; capital increases such as Oryzon; stock market flotations like Prosegur Cash and Neinor Homes; the bond issues of Audax and Masmovil; or the promissory note issues of Teknia, Tubacex and Abertis, are examples of operations within this scope, which are completed by private placements among institutional investors.

Structured and alternative financing. In 2017, transactions were agreed for over 1 billion euros , and the loan book ended the year above 2 billion euros, including syndicated corporate loans. Overall profitability was close to 350 basis points. Bankinter is the only bank that, relying on alternative lenders, takes part in complex financing processes with structured proposals, be they Spanish or foreign funds or insurance companies, providing customers with substantial added value in terms of cost, flexibility and swiftness.

This year Bankinter continued to develop its advisory services activity in financial-property transactions, such as the sale of hotel and logistical assets or property loan books, which had a notable demand from customers and very satisfactory results. 

Alternative investments

Another of last year's innovations was the launch of Helia, an investment fund with almost 250 million euros in renewable energy assets, for the best private banking customers and certain institutional investors with which bank has a special relationship. 

In the last few years, the Investment Banking area has become a benchmark in this business segment, not only in Spain, but internationally as well.

The operation, which along with that of Ores Socimi at the end of 2016, was one more step in the project to create value-added products which offer a good risk/return trade-off for its private banking customers. The Plenium Partners Group, one of the leading renewable energy asset managers in the Spanish market, is to manage the project.  

With this launch and that of Atom Socimi, a specialist hotels vehicle, Bankinter brought the capital it manages for customers in alternative investments up to 700 million euros. The Bank's objective is to continue creating alternative products for its private banking customers.