Merrill Lynch’s singleness of purpose played a vital part in the Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium’s takeover of ABN AMRO. And nowhere more so than in the Fortis rights issue, the biggest ever in dollar terms, which tipped the scales against all predictions. Edward Russell-Walling reports.

For ABN AMRO’s pioneering property derivatives team the value of deals is mushrooming, but it is keen that other players enter the market and create greater liquidity. Joanne Hart reports.

Dresdner Kleinwort is ahead of the advisory pack in terms of deal value in European electricity mergers and acquisitions this year. The bank’s utilities and natural resources team talk to Edward Russell-Walling about their recent success in one of the most difficult deals in cross-border history, Enel’s takeover of Endesa.

BNP Paribas’ structuring team is meeting growing demand with some innovative approaches. Edward Russell-Walling explains.

A consortium including Goldman Sachs won the mandate for a strategic review and IPO execution for Turkey’s state-owned Halkbank. A tight schedule for US distribution and a political/religious row that spilled volatility into the Istanbul stock market failed to derail the sale. Edward Russell-Walling reports.

Through the successful Asian marketing of IPOs for Russian property developers Sistema-Hals and PIK, Nomura’s Moscow operation has managed to position itself as a gateway to ‘eastern’ investors.Edward Russell-Walling explains.

The debt specialists at Merrill Lynch have been busy blazing new trails in the emerging markets. Edward Russell-Walling reports.

In an extraordinarily short time frame, while much of the market was on holiday, UBS’s hybrid team managed to administer issues from Nationwide, DnB NOR, Generali and HSH Nordbank. Edward Russell-Walling reports.

JPMorgan’s CMBS business is booming, helped by a $960m property loan for Colony Capital’s casino assets. The team tell Kathryn Tully how they pulled off the biggest CMBS deal in the gaming industry.

For the first International Finance Facility for Immunisation debt issue to succeed, lead managers Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank had to devise a way of frontloading development finance at an affordable cost. Edward Russell-Walling reports on a scheme designed to ensure reliable funding for vaccine projects.