IDD announces winners of the 2005 Deals of the Year Awards

New York, NY – January 13, 2006 – IDD, a SourceMedia publication, announces today the winners of the IDD Deals of the Year Awards for 2005. This year's twelve categories recognize the outstanding deals accomplished in investment banking and mergers & acquisitions and their essential role in the national and international economy.

The primary criteria for award winners include; creativity, impact on the market, hurdles overcome and deal size. January 16's issue of IDD reveals in-depth profiles on all twelve award winners announced today.

The 2005 Banker of the Year is uber-banker Joe Perella, who found himself on the leading edge of change yet again this year. Long considered one of Wall Street’s top dealmakers, Perella took a moral stand during the troubles at Morgan Stanley last spring and resigned. Now he is in the early stages of starting his own firm, and is already being joined by some of Wall Street’s top bankers—a process that will likely accelerate.

IDD’s Bank of the Year is also cut from the smaller-is-better cloth: Greenhill & Co. This M&A specialist has become the model that other boutiques aspire to emulate, and prides itself on providing un-conflicted M&A and restructuring advice to clients.

For the first time, IDD named a Middle Market Bank of the Year award, which went to Jefferies & Co. Having outlasted many of its former rivals, Jefferies lays claim to being the only full-service firm on Wall Street focused entirely on middle-market and growth companies. What is more, its stock price has outperformed all Wall Street firms over the past five years.

"Not so many years ago, boutiques were pronounced dead,” says Ron Cooper, editor-in-chief of IDD. “On the contrary, Joe Perella and Greenhill are very much capturing the fancy of Wall Street these days, while Jefferies is proving that there is still a place for one-of-a-kind firms.” The deals receiving honorable mention were:

The 2005 Overall Deal of the Year was awarded to the $11 billion acquisition of the Wayne, PA-based Sungard Data Systems struck in March 2005. The buyout was accomplished by a seven-member private equity consortium led by Silver Lake Partners, which included Bain Capital, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Providence Equity Partners and Texas Pacific Group. The deal ranks at this time as the second largest buyout in history, second to the 1989 acquisition of RJR Nabisco by KKR. This year's Overall Deal of the Year is also the winner of our 2005 Private Equity Deal of the Year, a first for this award.

Congratulations to all the winners of the 2005 IDD Deals of the Year Awards:

Banker of the Year: Joe Perella

Bank of the Year: Greenhill & Co.

Middle Market Bank of the Year: Jefferies & Co.

Overall Deal of the Year & Private Equity Deal of the Year: The $11 billion acquisition of Sungard Data Systems by a seven-member private equity consortium organized by Silver Lake Partners. Advisers: CSFB (Sungard), Lazard (fairness opinion); Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley (consortium).

M&A Deal of the Year: $41.4 billion acquisition of UFJ Financial Holdings by Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group. Advisers: Mitsubishi Securities, Morgan Stanley, Nomura Securities, Lazard (Mitsubishi Tokyo); Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan (UFJ Holdings).

Energy Deal of the Year: Duke Energy’s $14.1 billion acquisition of Cinergy. Advisers: Lazard, UBS (Duke Energy); Merrill Lynch (Cinergy).

Financial Institutions Deal of the Year: Citigroup/Legg Mason asset swap and distribution agreement. Advisers: Citigroup (Citigroup); Goldman Sachs (Legg Mason).

Healthcare Deal of the Year: The $525 million purchase by Gilead Sciences and Royalty Pharma of Emory University’s royalty rights for an HIV drug. Advisers: Lazard (Gilead and Royalty Pharma); Citigroup (Emory).

Media/Entertainment Deal of the Year: $475 million initial capitalization of Legendary Pictures. Adviser: The Perseus Group.

Real Estate Deal of the Year: $6.11 billion acquisition of Toys “R” Us by team of KKR, Bain Capital and Vornado Realty Trust. Advisers: CSFB, Duff & Phelps (Toys “R” Us); Deutsche Bank, Bank of America, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley (KKR Group).

Retailing Deal of the Year: The $5.1 billion acquisition of Neiman Marcus by Texas Pacific Group and Warburg Pincus. Advisers: CSFB (TPG and Warburg Pincus); Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan (Neiman Marcus); CSFB, Deutsche, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs (Financing).

Technology Deal of the Year: $8.8 billion acquisition of MCI by Verizon. Advisers: Bear Stearns (Verizon); Greenhill, JPMorgan and Lazard (MCI).