Business model

 

NIBC is streamlined around two strategic pillars - Merchant Banking and Specialised Finance - that work closely together. Indispensable to those pillars and to our entire business are Treasury, Risk Management and Corporate Center.

 

 

Merchant Banking enables mid-cap companies, financial institutions and high net worth entrepreneurs/owners to grow their business. We give them access to our investment banking products, like advisory, specialised lending and equity/mezzanine. Our franchise is built on offering integrated solutions to our clients. 

 

Within NIBC, we have virtual sector teams in which experts from the bank share ideas and market knowledge on specific sectors for the benefit of our clients. Sector Practices are active in the following fields where we have expert knowledge:

• Industrials;
• Food, Agri & Retail;
• Services;
• Financial Institutions;
• Real Estate;
• Renewable Energy;
• Healthcare/Biotech; and
• Chemicals. 

 

Specialised Finance combines NIBC’s expertise and long experience in specific asset classes with its balance sheet and capital markets access to provide debt products to its clients. It is home to origination teams in six different asset classes (corporate lending, leveraged finance, shipping, oil & gas services, infrastructure and renewables, and real estate), structuring and distribution teams and portfolio management. Our retail activities in residential mortgages and savings are also part of this pillar.

 

Treasury works with both the Merchant Banking and Specialised Finance teams to find the optimal way of funding the bank’s assets and to manage its interest rate position. In addition, Treasury works with the bank’s clients to find tailored solutions to manage their interest rate exposures.

 

Risk Management is at the heart of our operations. We have sophisticated and integrated risk management systems to measure and manage financial risk on a bank-wide basis.

 

Corporate Center provides essential support in areas such as Finance & Tax, Legal & Compliance, Internal Audit, Technology & Operations, Human Resources and Corporate Communications.

 

 

Corporate strategy

 

We are a leading merchant bank in the Benelux and Germany for our target mid-cap clients, and a meaningful player in a select number of clearly defined asset-based financing classes.

 

Integrated, flexible and fast on our feet, we shape innovative solutions for corporate clients, financial institutions, institutional investors and financial sponsors. We react swiftly to the demands of clients and markets, and constantly seek to develop products and services that are tailored to meet our clients’ evolving needs.

 

Our strategy is based on asset classes and geographies we know well, building on our core skill of credit risk assessment. We play to our strengths and work together for the benefit of all NIBC’s stakeholders to build a sustainable franchise for the long-term. Our strengths lie in our credit skills, especially in asset finance, our strong mid-market franchise, our investment management capabilities, and our high quality people and their entrepreneurial spirit.

 

NIBC’s clients are mostly companies with an enterprise value of EUR 50-500 million. They are often run by their founder or major shareholder, or have just moved beyond that phase. Their credit needs often require tailor-made products and services, which bigger banks cannot deliver in a cost-efficient way.

 

Our clients almost always have a strategy of both organic and acquisition-driven growth, so they also need our M&A advisory services. Acquisitions and sales of companies can require investment banking products such as specialised lending or equity/mezzanine finance, which are among NIBC’s specialisations.

 

The size of the companies that bank with NIBC, and the management style of their leaders, requires us to react fast and flexibly to their changing needs and wishes. With our tightly-knit team and very short internal communication lines, clients can gain direct access to NIBC senior management. For our target clients, this gives us a clear advantage over larger banks.

 

 

Risk overview

 

Risk Management ensures we manage risks prudently and have a diversified risk portfolio. With an in-depth understanding of the business and its clients, Risk Management’s role is to prevent surprises by accurately assessing and controlling NIBC’s risk profile. It is well integrated into the business so that it fully comprehends the bank’s positions and products, and has a good dialogue with the front office.

 

The global credit crisis focused Risk Management on three priorities in 2008: tightly controlled liquidity management, controlling structured credit portfolios and keeping a close watch on the loan portfolio.

 

The bank has a very tightly controlled liquidity plan in place which makes sure that funding from bonds issued in the past and coming due for redemption is gradually replaced by new funding sources. These funding sources include retail savings, government guaranteed bond issues and various forms of collateralised funding.

 

The structured credit portfolio of the bank has been significantly reduced and is the subject of very detailed risk management with a focus on stress testing.

 

The greatest risk NIBC faces in 2009 is the weak business environment. Companies are postponing their investment plans wherever possible. All industries and businesses have been and continue to be affected. However, we are convinced that we are well placed to continue to deliver value added support to our key mid-sized clients.