In 2002, there were only two major initial public offerings in Spain, utility Enagas and bank Banesto, and in 2003 only one listing for media company Antena 3 TV. CSFB was global coordinator for two of these. Mergers and acquisitions activity was also at a low as large companies such as Telefónica, oil group Repsol YPF and banks Santander Central Hispano and BBVA suffered from Latin American turmoil, including the Argentine crisis. This was in addition to the lack of positive investor sentiment worldwide.
Top Spanish companies have now sold non-core assets and reinforced their balance sheets. “The tone is more positive. Plus the energy sector, for example, needs to restructure, after failed attempts [involving utilities Endesa and Iberdrola and Gas Natural with Iberdrola] a couple of years ago,” says Mr Rodriguez-Pina.
