Berenberg beats equities slump, wins ECM business

Berenberg Bank on Monday signalled its pan-European equities and ECM ambitions as it reported a solid set of 2011 financial results. It only took until Wednesday for it to make good on the promise, with a joint bookrunner position on Europe’s first $500m IPO launch of the year — that of Swiss-based Asian outsourcing firm DKSH (see euroweek.com/equity later today for the full story). It is Berenberg’s first senior IPO appointment on a deal of that size and its first on any new listing outside Germany.