Banks that stand to gain from pair of blockbuster tech deals
BANKS working on Dell and Virgin Media’s multi-billion dollar deals are set for welcome advisory fees after a dearth of M&A activity in recent years, although one name in particular was conspicuous by its absence yesterday.
Morgan Stanley had been a long-time adviser to Dell, having worked on many of the PC manufacturers biggest deals, and has been a well-respected technology sector adviser over the past decade.
However, the bank was shut out of the $24.4bn (£15.6bn) leveraged buyout yesterday, and was by far the biggest New York bank not involved in the deal, with JP Morgan, Evercore Partners, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Credit Suisse and RBC Capital Markets all set for a slice of the estimated $400m in fees from the deal, most from arranging financing.
The omission is the latest embarrassment for Morgan Stanley after it was fined $5m in December over its handling of Facebook’s initial public offering, on which it was the lead underwriter.
Advisers on Liberty Global’s deal to buy Virgin Media are also expected to be in for a sizeable windfall. Virgin Media’s house brokers are Goldman Sachs, while JP Morgan, which has worked with the company on financing before, is also expected on the deal.
Credit Suisse is believed to be advising Liberty Global, having worked on other acquisitions.