The value of experience

It’s a little over a year since Intesa Sanpaolo formed its new global strategic coverage team. The move was part of a drive by the bank for higher international growth under its business plan for 2018-21.
The whole idea of a team of excellence sitting across the different areas of expertise has been nurtured in the first place by Roberto Battaglia, head of Human Resources Department within the Corporate and Investment Banking Division, and fully supported by Mauro Micillo, head of the Corporate and Investment Banking Division, who both believed that an in-house swat team would help making Intesa Sanpaolo more competitive on the international stage.
Already the team, headed by Richard Zatta since the start of 2019, has contributed to some important deals closing, developed a notable pipeline and been part of multi-bank syndicates that have won several major international awards. This is impressive work, helping Intesa Sanpaolo swiftly develop its international investment banking business, which aims to become one of the EMEA’s top 10 debt houses.
“It’s a tough goal, but one I’m confident we can achieve,” says Zatta. “In the area of infrastructure and project finance loans we already rank among the top 10 banks in terms of volume and number of transactions.”

The effect of this approach was apparent last summer. The bank won the advisory, bookrunner and co-ordinator roles in the €1.6bn bid by Mediaset and F2i to take private El Tower, the Italian tower company. The deal involved €750m of finance and saw the structured finance experts working closely with the bank’s debt-capital markets and advisory teams. As bookrunner, it also played a supporting role in last year’s €900m financing of NTV, a high-speed train deal.
Such work is hugely important to Intesa Sanpaolo in terms of its global standing and for enhancing future revenue-generation capabilities from cross-selling.
“The high-speed train experience is particularly important because we expect to see a wave of rail liberalisation across Europe soon. It positions Intesa Sanpaolo as an expert, an area where we can add value,” he says.
Beyond tapping into the knowledge accumulated by the bank’s different departments, Zatta’s team also looks to ensure clients get the best deal structure tailored specifically for them.
“We will analyse a group’s capital structure and work out how best it can arrange its debt. In the case of an international conglomerate with all its debt at the holding-company level, we might suggest it push that debt down to the operating level to enhance its potential leverage. When we presented this strategy to one international organisation, we had it accepted and are now working on similar new cases,” he says.

Zatta also works closely with Intesa Sanpaolo’s International Subsidiary Banks Division, which has strong representation across Europe including in Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Romania and Russia, as well as with its international corporate hubs in London, New York, Dubai and Hong Kong. Together, Zatta expects to be able to participate in more dynamic and innovative deals, driving Intesa Sanpaolo’s international growth.
“Competition in lending is stiff – that’s one of the reasons why we set up the new team, to give us an edge. It’s already apparent that our particular way of working brings considerable value to clients.
“In fact, our success to date is what makes me confident that with the support of our International Department and Strategies and Marketing Department, which will help us keep a strong focus on our pipeline, we will help the bank meet its international growth strategy,” he says. That would be a huge achievement and go some way to helping Intesa Sanpaolo achieve its overall strategy for 2018-2021.