What Makes You the Right Partner?

Can you give us an example of a recent transaction that highlights all you can do for clients? We recently helped PPL Corporation acquire Central Networks, the largest acquisition of U.K. utility businesses by a U.S. utility in over a decade. This deal is a great example of all we can do for clients because it encompasses the full range of our investment and corporate banking capabilities in the U.S. and Europe as well as our investor-client relationships worldwide. We provided M&A advice to PPL, worked with a major European bank to provide a bridge loan, and arranged a revolving credit facility, successfully syndicating it and the bridge loan in the European and U.S. loan markets. Long-term financing included a $2.3 billion common equity offering, a $1 billion convertible offering, and U.S. dollar– and pound sterling–denominated senior notes offerings. In addition, we used both foreign exchange and interest rate derivatives to help manage the risks associated with the financings. We executed this transaction in record time, and the strength of our distribution capabilities with our investor clients enabled us to generate attractive demand for the securities, leading to advantageous pricing for our client, PPL.

What was it about Bank of America Merrill Lynch that won you this business? An important reason behind winning this business was our long-standing relationship with PPL. Bank of America and Merrill Lynch both had relationships with the company going back more than 10 years. When we created BofA Merrill several years ago, we solidified and strengthened our relationship with PPL across the advisory, lending and capital markets areas and expanded it by providing more capabilities, including treasury services, serving as their everyday banker as well as a bank they can come to for big deals. Relationships are critical in our business. They are built by knowing our clients, providing the expertise they need and demonstrating the ability to execute on their behalf. We had also executed a similar deal for this client in 2010, so they were well aware of our capabilities.

What does this type of deal say about your company? This transaction demonstrates the power of our global platform. Our clients have confidence in our expertise across the full range of products and services, and they know we can execute across borders. Clients benefit from having a relationship with one firm that can deliver a full array of products and services with speed, accuracy and efficiency.