​The firm edged out both global and regional peers for the top spot and was the only Egyptian firm to have placed in the top 10 on the league table in both 2014 and 2015 Cairo, 26 January 2016 EFG Hermes, the leading investment bank in the Arab world, closed 2015 as the number one investment bank in the Middle East as ranked by fees generated from equity capital market transactions, according to an independent report compiled by Thomson Reuters Deal Making Intelligence. EFG Hermes edged out both global and regional peers for the top spot this year and is the only Egyptian firm to have placed in the top 10 on the Thomson Reuters league tables in each of the past two years The report notes that “EFG Hermes took the top spot for ECM underwriting fees in the region with a 15.5% share,” finishing atop the rankings in 2015 after having closed 2014 in fifth place.  “The team served as global coordinator and bookrunner on four of the five largest transactions in the Middle East last year,” said EFG Hermes Head of Investment Banking Ahmed El-Guindy. “The firm’s performance is a testament to our ability to consistently outperform our regional and global peers through our choice of high quality investment stories as well as our unrivaled ability to raise considerable demand from local, regional, global and emerging market investors, despite challenging market conditions.” The firm has lead-managed and executed all international-standard IPOs — those executed in accordance with the international standards (Reg S/Rule 144A) — to have come out of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates in the past 24 months. “EFG Hermes is the only regional investment bank that has consistently executed landmark IPOs for its regional clients across regional and international exchanges,” said EFG Hermes Chief Executive Officer Karim Awad. “Ranking as the number one ECM fee earner in the Middle East is a fantastic achievement for the firm, particularly given the challenging conditions in regional markets last year.” Since 2014, the firm has raised more than US$ 4 billion for 12 equity capital market transactions, leveraging its leading position as the Arab World’s largest equities franchise that has traded US$ 80 billion for its clients across MENA markets in the past 24 months.