Deal of the Year, Best M&A Deal
Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group's $40 billion merger with UFJ Holdings
Seller's advisors: Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan, Mitsubishi Securities
Acquirer's advisors: Morgan Stanley, Nomura, Lazard Brothers
The deal, which spanned two years, created the world's largest bank by assets and provided the first major example of a contested M&A transaction in Japan.
Best IPO
Jupiter Telecom's $1 billion IPO
Lead managers: Nikko Citigroup, Goldman Sachs
Japan's second largest IPO of the year and the one, which showed the importance of foreign investors in the primary as well as the secondary market.
Best Secondary Deal
Mizuho Financial Group's $4.6 billion follow-on offering
Lead managers: Mizuho Securities, Nikko Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley
Mega bank cleans up its balance sheet and re-pays government capital injection with proceeds from a deal that achieves a tight discount despite steep stock price appreciation.
Best POWL
Infosys $1.072 billion ADR
Lead manager: Nomura
The first POWL (public offering without listing) to incorporate a dedicated Japanese tranche enabling sizeable retail placement that fulfilled Indian tech company's strategic objective of targeting one of its most important international markets.
Best Equity-Linked Deal, Best Uridashi Bond
KFW's Eu1.1 billion exchangeable into Deutsche Post
Lead manager: Nomura
Japan's first ever Uridashi equity-linked bond provided a groundbreaking deal that leveraged Nomura's global privatization experience with Deutsche Post and married it with retail demand for a stock that resembles Japan's own all powerful postal company.
Best International Bond
Resona Bank's $1.3 billion and Eu800 million perpetual non-call 10 and perpetual non-call seven upper tier 2 bonds
Lead managers: Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, UBS
Resona pips Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group in recognition of three blow-out international bank capital deals, which culminated with this dual currency offering in September.
Best Samurai/Euroyen Bond
Citigroup's $2 billion Samurai
Lead manager: Nikko Citigroup
Financial institutions accounted for almost half of all issuance in the Samurai market during 2005 and this was the big daddy. The market's largest ever deal by size and the one, which pushed the yield curve out to 30 years.
Best Securitization
Government Housing Loan Corp's RMBS $1.74 billion S#1, $2.18 billion S#2, $740 million S#35
Lead managers: Daiwa SMBC, Goldman Sachs, Nomura
A tough category to judge given the depth, strength and innovation apparent in Japan's securitization sector. But this is the definitive issuer: the one that provides the market with its main driving force. In 2005, it launched its S-type - not a car, but a new class of securitization using seasoned as well as new loans.
