(L to R) Presenter Hans-Jorg Rudloff, Chairman, Barclays Capital; Michael Zaoui, Chairman, European M&A; James Rutter, Financial News.

Morgan Stanley carried the day at the Financial News Annual Awards for Excellence on December 1, taking home five out of the eight possible European capital markets awards, including the top award for Investment Bank of the Year. The Firm also captured European Capital Markets House of the Year, Initial Public Offering House of the Year and Secondary Offering House of the Year. The presentation was made at the Merchant Taylors’ Hall in London.

For its role as book runner in three of the four largest equity transactions in 2004, Morgan Stanley took top ECM house honors with 80 percent of first-place votes. Those deals included:

• the €9.5bn (US$12.6bn) sale of shares in Enel, the largest follow-on to date this year
• the French government's €6.2bn (US$8.2bn) sale of France Telecom shares, the largest-ever accelerated bookbuilt offer in dollars to date
• the €4.0bn (US$5.3bn) flotation of Belgacom, the largest global initial public offering to date this year

The France Telecom transaction, in which Morgan Stanley acted as global coordinator and joint book runner, won Secondary Offering of the Year.

(L to R) Rudloff; Jonathan Chenevix-Trench, Chairman, Institutional Securities European Operating Committee; Robin Smyth-Osbourne, Accenture, the event sponsor.

The Firm also saw its work on two other major deals recognized. European IPO of the Year went to the €1.2bn (US$1.6bn) Pages Jaunes deal, in which the Firm advised and served as joint book runner. Sanofi-Synthelabo's €55.0bn (US$73.4bn) takeover of rival Aventis, which the Firm advised, was recognized as the European M&A Deal of the Year.

In lauding the winners' accomplishments, William Wright, editor of Financial News, noted less-than-favorable equity and M&A markets as cause for particular praise. "The investment banks here have had to make every deal count," he said. "Today's winners have achieved excellence despite these challenging conditions."

The Firm credited impressive showings from all of its business groups. "Our performance has been strong across the board, and I am delighted," said Managing Director Mike Uva, Head of European Investment Banking. "This recognition is a further validation of our overall investment banking and global capital markets strategy. Being first choice for clients in the numerous situations noted by this publication and voted on by peers affirms how successfully we have positioned ourselves to meet client needs."

In deciding these peer-judged awards, more than 40 European investment bankers were asked to rank the year's deals drawn from candidates nominated by Financial News journalists. The bankers were asked not to vote for their own deals.