Peel Hunt and Santander Sign Landmark Underwriting Collaboration Agreement

UK investment bank Peel Hunt and leading international bank Santander have today entered into a major underwriting collaboration agreement, which will provide both parties with the scale, expertise and financial firepower to underwrite the UK’s largest equity capital markets (ECM) transactions.

This collaboration agreement combines Peel Hunt’s award winning research, strong UK, US and European distribution capabilities and ECM expertise, with Santander Corporate & Investment Banking’s European strength, global scale and cross-border underwriting capabilities.

Exclusive to Peel Hunt’s clients in the UK, the agreement extends across a range of share offerings, including primary offerings such as rights issues and placings to support M&A activity or bolster corporate balance sheets, as well as secondary offerings, including sell downs of large stakes by major shareholders.

Peel Hunt is a specialist in UK Investment Banking, with a 280-strong UK team, 157 corporate clients (including 34 in the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250), and powerful sales and trading capabilities with a 14.9% share of London Stock Exchange trading volumes in 2020. The firm has ranked #1 for research in each of the last four years, and successfully raised £3.6bn across 69 equity capital markets transactions during 2019 and 2020.

Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (Santander CIB) is the wholesale investment banking division of Banco Santander, one of the largest banks in Europe by market capitalisation, and supports corporate and institutional clients, offering tailored services and value-added wholesale products. In 2019 and 2020, Santander was one of the most active banks in European ECM, acting as Bookrunner on 23 deals with a cumulative value of €22.1 billion.

Steven Fine, Chief Executive of Peel Hunt, said: “As our business has grown, so too have our clients and the size and number of high profile transactions on which we advise, underwrite and execute on a daily basis. With a strong eye to the future, we are delighted to be entering into this collaboration agreement with a bank of Santander’s global reach, reputation, and commitment to UK companies, which will enhance our ability to underwrite substantial ECM transactions.

“This landmark collaboration combines our in depth market knowledge and expertise with a powerful underwriting capability that will enable us to enhance our full service offer to our clients and further support our growth ambitions and those of the companies for whom we act.”

José M. Linares, Global head of Santander CIB, said: “We aim to establish Santander CIB as one of the leading corporate and investment banks in Europe, and this collaboration is an important step towards that goal. The agreement with Peel Hunt combines our respective strengths and expertise to expand our client reach and further enhance the services we offer. We look forward to working together.”