U.S. Investment Banks Beat Europeans At Underwriting

The top three American investment banks nearly doubled their share of equity underwriting in 1999 in Europe at the expense of their European rivals. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Goldman Sachs, and Merrill Lynch grabbed the leading three positions respectively, reports Capital Data, which monitors the underwriting business. They owed their success to skill in bringing their Silicon Valley experience to Europe. That has enabled them to leverage U.S. research and distribution capabilities that they have built up during the Internet boom. The trio had a combined European market share of more than US$82 billion compared with US$50 billion in 1988. Biggest casualty of their progress was Warburg Dillon Read, Europe's largest indigenous investment bank.