SOURCE: Sagient Research

 

SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire - January 13, 2009) - Sagient Research Systems, a leading publisher of independent research for the financial services and institutional investment communities, today announced that J.P. Morgan Cazenove, Merrill Lynch, and RBS Hoare Govett ranked as the three most active investment banks for private placings by public issuers in the U.K. during 2008.

Sagient Research also announced that the 2008 U.K. private placement market totaled £6.79 billion (USD$12.98 billion at the time of closing) raised through 241 transactions. Included in this total were all equity and equity-linked private placement transactions conducted by public companies with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange or the AIM (and no concurrent listing on a major U.S. exchange).

PlacementTracker, a flagship product of Sagient Research Systems, is well recognized as the leading provider of research, data, and analytics covering the U.S. private placement (PIPE) market. In November 2008, PlacementTracker announced the launch of global private placement coverage for publicly traded companies worldwide.

Commenting on the League Tables, Robert F. Kyle, executive vice president of Sagient Research, said, "We are very pleased to be launching our inaugural League Table rankings for the U.K. market. As one of the most active arenas for private placements by public companies outside the U.S., the U.K. is a benchmark for the strength of the global private placement market. The worldwide private placement market remained one of the only new issue markets open for business in 2008, despite the unprecedented market volatility and instability. We congratulate all of the active investment banks in the private placement market for a tremendous year, especially those leaders who topped the League Tables."

Parties interested in learning more about PlacementTracker's global private placement market coverage should call 001-858-200-2395 or visit us online at www.PlacementTracker.com.

  The 2008 U.K. Private Placement Market Investment Banking League Table
                       By Number of Transactions:

                                        Transaction
Investment Banking Firm                    Count      Total Amount Placed
-----------------------                 ------------ ----------------------
J.P. Morgan Cazenove Limited                  7      GBP     688,977,555.00
Merrill Lynch International                   6      GBP   1,038,263,433.00
RBS Hoare Govett Limited                      6      GBP     586,290,597.00
Piper Jaffray Limited                         6      GBP     138,175,721.00
Canaccord Adams Limited                       5      GBP     169,117,876.00
KBC Peel Hunt                                 5      GBP     104,914,638.00
Panmure Gordon & Co.                          5      GBP      65,093,637.00
Mirabaud Securities Limited                   5      GBP      42,900,836.00
Citigroup Global Markets Limited              4      GBP     932,219,478.00
Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc        4      GBP     780,352,000.00
Cenkos Securities Limited                     4      GBP     285,554,484.00
Investec Investment Bank                      4      GBP     224,699,017.00
BMO Nesbitt Burns                             4      GBP     162,210,972.00
Fox-Davies Capital Limited                    4      GBP       4,959,804.00
Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited            3      GBP      29,507,177.00
Seymour Pierce Ellis                          3      GBP      16,367,218.00
Nomura Code Securities Limited                3      GBP      16,364,264.00
John East & Partners Limited                  3      GBP       7,235,185.00
Deutsche Bank AG                              2      GBP     794,940,000.00
HSBC Bank plc                                 2      GBP     486,287,821.00
UBS Investment Bank                           2      GBP     332,030,613.00
Goldman Sachs International                   2      GBP     212,695,424.00
Jefferies International Limited               2      GBP     155,153,225.00
Numis Securities Limited                      2      GBP     150,436,008.00
RBC Capital Markets                           2      GBP      32,653,013.00

Investment Banking rankings include all equity and equity-linked private placement transactions conducted by public companies with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange or the AIM. On transactions where an investment banking firm has acted solely as Financial Advisor, that transaction has been excluded from that firm's ranking. Co-agented transactions award full transaction credit to all agents participating (regardless of status of lead agent or co-agent). Data is for closed transactions reported as of January 9, 2009.

A primary listing outside the U.S. is designated by PlacementTracker when the issuer has no U.S. listing or when the issuer has a U.S. dual-listing on the Pink Sheets. An issuer with a U.S. dual listing on the NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ, or OTC-BB is classified as a U.S. issuer by PlacementTracker.

About Sagient Research Systems

Sagient Research Systems is a publisher of independent research. We develop, produce, and sell proprietary research products to mutual funds, hedge funds, and investment banks. Our business strategy is to continue to leverage our development, technology, and marketing expertise to solidify our position as a leading provider of independent research to the financial services and institutional investment communities. For more information, please visit the Sagient Research Systems website at www.sagientresearch.com.