* Landsbanki has one of the largest equity research footprints in Europe * Landsbanki's subsidiaries have adopted the bank's brand identity
As a part of Landsbanki's ongoing integration of its European broker network, Landsbanki is pleased to announce the launch of the joint Kepler, Teather & Greenwood and Merrion equity research product, offering institutional and corporate clients the benefit of regional expertise along with pan-European distribution and research coverage. Distribution of the newly branded research notes has already begun.
Kepler Equities, Teather & Greenwood and Merrion Capital* all became part of Landsbanki in 2005.
These acquisitions were an integral part of Landsbanki's long term strategy to create a leading Pan-European corporate investment bank as part of its expanding international banking operations. The companies provide local expertise, corporate access and strong institutional client lists, while Landsbanki adds financial resources, and broader product offering to their already existing skills, including corporate finance, senior debt & structured finance and asset backed lending. This creates a unique pan-European platform on which to build the bank's corporate and investment banking services.
Joint equity research product As part of the above process Landsbanki is pleased to announce that the equity research product lines of Kepler, Teather & Greenwood and Merrion have been merged, and consequently the Landsbanki Group is now able to provide comprehensive Pan-European research coverage.
To clients, this broad research product line offers many advantages. All together, the Group employs around 90 analysts with a research coverage close to 800 stocks in countries representing 87% of the European market capitalisation. A new, common database manages all financial data for the combined universe under coverage. This combined force has one of the largest research footprints in Europe. Along with this research amplitude, the brokerage entities will continue to build on their local roots and contacts, a key value added tool for institutional clients.
Combining these research entities under one banner gives greater access and wider distribution to institutional investors specifically for small and mid cap companies - an offering typically only available to larger companies.
Through its extensive distribution network, Landsbanki has a strong platform for delivery to many of the world's largest institutional investors. In total, Landsbanki's European securities operation boasts around 100 equity sales people located in the largest financial centres in Europe* in addition to New York and Reykjavik. The quality of the research products is evident. Each European Kepler office has been awarded a top-ten ranking in its respective country by Thomson Extel in its 2005 annual survey of best equities research firms. In the latest Sunday Times/Starmine award for the quality of UK mid-cap recommendations, Teather & Greenwood was ranked third and Merrion has won awards in the categories of Best Analyst and Most Objective Research.
Brand and logo harmonization Kepler, Teather & Greenwood and Merrion will continue to trade under their respective trade names as we believe that one of the Landsbanki Group's unique selling propositions is its local presence, relationships and contacts. However, the Group is happy to announce that we are harmonizing the individual logos in order to provide a clear link between Landsbanki's name and the international subsidiaries.
From mid May, the European brokers will, in stages, begin adopting Landsbanki's colours and brand identity. This co-branding is designed to coincide with the newly merged Kepler, Merrion and Teather & Greenwood research product line. We firmly believe that this strong, unified brand identifier will lead to increased recognition by our clients. Examples of the new brands can be seen below
The brand harmonization is an integral part of bringing together the various components of the Landsbanki Group in order to form an integrated service and product offering.
For further information, please contact:
Landsbanki - tel. +354 410 4009 Sigurjon Th. Arnason and Halldor J. Kristjansson Joint Group Managing Directors and CEOs
Financial Dynamics - tel. +44 20 7831 3113 Andrew Walton
* Landsbanki acquired 50% of Merrion Capital in December 2005 and will acquire the remaining shares over next three years. *The locations are: London, Edinborough, Dublin, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Zurich, Milan, Paris, Madrid and Luxembourg
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