Macquarie and Kasikornbankgroup sign strategic cooperation agreement

Macquarie Group Limited (“Macquarie”, ASX: MQG), a global financial services institution, and KASIKORNBANKGROUP (“KGroup”), Thailand’s leading diversified banking group, have signed an Exclusive Strategic Alliance (ESA) covering a range of investment banking and securities operations for their affiliates, Macquarie Securities (Thailand) Limited (“MSTL”) and KASIKORN SECURITIES Public Company Limited (“KSecurities”). The agreement includes investment banking services in relation to equity capital markets transactions and inbound and outbound mergers and acquisitions. In addition it provides for exclusive cooperation in institutional equity sales and brokerage services and co-branded research to domestic clients.

“This is a landmark agreement in one of Asia's most exciting markets. Thailand is an important market for us and this agreement will broaden and deepen our research and client penetration. MSTL and KSecurities, on an aggregated basis, will have the second largest trading volume in the market and the largest research platform," said Mr. Mark Duncan, Macquarie’s Global Head of Cash Equities.

“This agreement ensures that our collective client base has unrivalled local knowledge and global reach through a unique combination of KGroup’s deep relationships and expertise in the domestic Thai market with Macquarie’s extensive, international network,” added Ms. Kalpana Desai, Head of Macquarie Capital Asia.

Mr. Banthoon Lamsam, the Chief Executive Officer of KGroup said that going forward, financial institutions will need to increase their capabilities to support all clients’ needs. KGroup has a long history of more than 67 years of solid performance. “We understand the financial industry and domestic clients’ needs. We are looking to create financial products and services to support all clients’ needs both for now and in the future,” he said.

Ms. Nattharin Talthong, the Executive Chairman of KSecurities and KGroup Private Banking Business Head said, “This ESA with Macquarie is one important key to ensure our clients have more investment opportunities available to them. They will also benefit from the sizeable research platform this cooperation agreement will produce.”

“This cooperation will create one of the largest institutional research and trading platforms in Thailand providing breadth and depth across the market for the benefit of all clients,” said Mr. Angus Kent, Managing Director of MSTL.

Macquarie offers a full suite of banking, financial advisory, investment and funds management services in the Asia-Pacific. It continues to grow its Asia Pacific franchise and expand its product and geographic reach. In the last two years, it has signed strategic cooperation agreements with Julius Baer Group, a leading Swiss private banking group; Foundation Securities, a leading Pakistan securities company; VinaSecurities, a leading Vietnamese securities company; and BRAC-EPL, a leading investment bank in Bangladesh. In recent years, Macquarie has been a manager on some of the largest IPOs in Asia, including the listing of Agricultural Bank of China, the world’s largest IPO.