SoftBank's ARM buy may net bankers $120 million in fees (updated)

Sprint Bioscience AB

18/07/2016 23:21

(Adds details on Raine, adds NEW YORK to dateline) 
    LONDON/NEW YORK, July 18 (Reuters) - Bankers are set to 
share up to $120 million in fees thanks to SoftBank Group Corp's 
 9984.T  planned $32 billion acquisition of British chip 
designer ARM Holdings  ARM.L , according to estimates on Monday. 
    Seven finance houses will divide the proceeds from the 
purchase by the Japanese company. Each side could pay out $50 
million to $60 million in fees to their respective advisers, 
estimates by ThomsonReuters/Freeman Consulting showed. 
    The deal, announced early Monday  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1A4167, is one of the 
largest this year and represents a large payday for bankers 
involved, especially for boutiques who generate the bulk of 
their fees from working on M&A transactions.  
    Goldman Sachs  GS.N  and Lazard were the lead financial 
advisers to ARM and will receive the lion's share of the money, 
the estimates showed. UBS  UBSG.S  and Barclays  BARC.L  were 
also on the ticket. 
    SoftBank was advised by U.S. boutique the Raine Group and UK 
outfit Robey Warshaw, plus Japan's Mizuho Securities  MZFGX.UL . 
    Raine, a U.S. boutique investment bank, founded by former 
tech, media and telecom bankers from bulge bracket firms in 
2009, has emerged as one of SoftBank's most trusted financial 
advisers. Raine co-founder Jeff Sine and Softbank Chief 
Executive Masayoshi Son have a relationship spanning more than a 
decade.  
    The ARM deal comes less than a month after Raine advised 
SoftBank on an $8.6 billion divestiture of "Clash of Clans" 
mobile game maker Supercell to Tencent Holdings  0700.HK . It 
was also a key adviser on SoftBank's $20 billion investment in 
Sprint Corp  S.N  that closed in 2013.  
    Advising on SoftBank's biggest-ever deal moves Raine up to 
No. 33 in worldwide M&A rankings by Thomson Reuters, ahead of 
U.S. boutique rivals Qatalyst Partners and Allen & Co. 
    Robey Warshaw, SoftBank's other boutique adviser, is now 
ranked No. 25. 
         
    BREXIT M&A FEARS EASE 
    There will be a further windfall from the bridge financing, 
which is forecast to yield $45 million in arrangement fees. 
    The transaction will help European bankers who had feared 
that Britain's vote to leave the European Union could leave a 
blank space in their deals calendar. 
    Last year was a bumper year for M&A. 
    Bankers advising Royal Dutch Shell  RDSa.L  on its 
acquisition of British energy firm BG netted $182.6 million in 
fees, according to estimates at the time.  
    Global M&A advisory fees fell 15 percent in the first half 
of 2016 against the same period last year, totalling $11.5 
billion. This is in line with a 23 percent decrease in 
dealmaking this year. 
 
 
    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
BREAKINGVIEWS-SoftBank new ARM may tie Sprint's behind back    
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1A40QX 
Reuters Insider-Breakingviews: SoftBank, ARM and a leg    http://reut.rs/2a3aA56 
Japan's son chased $32 bln ARM deal by the sea in Turkey    
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1A44QI 
Reuters Insider-Reuters Today: ARM bought by Japan's Softbank 
for £2.4 bln    http://reut.rs/29S86bd 
Reuters Insider-SoftBank's string of Big Bets    http://reut.rs/29SrBk5 
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> 
 (Reporting by Freya Berry in London and Liana B. Baker in San 
Francisco; Editing by Keith Weir and Matthew Lewis) 
 ((freya.berry@thomsonreuters.com)(+ 44 207 5420214)(Reuters 
Messaging: freya.berry.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: ARM HOLDINGS M&A/SOFTBANK GROUP FEES (UPDATE 1, PI