Company: LLORENTE & CUENCA, Madrid, Spain
Company Description: LLORENTE & CUENCA is the leading Public Relations consultancy firm in Spain and Latin America, with ten wholly-owned offices, supplemented by affiliate relationships in six countries. Founded in 1995 by Olga Cuenca and José Antonio Llorente, LL&C offers a comprehensive strategic consultancy service with more than 300 specialists in the different areas of communication.
Nomination Category: Corporate Communications, Investor Relations, & Public Relations Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Investor Relations Program of the Year

Nomination Title: The CAM IPO, a historic financial undertaking

   1. Tell the story about this nominated investor relations program (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

          The project consisted of contributing to the success of the issue of Caja
          Mediterráneo participative shares in the first flotation of a Spanish savings
          bank. It projected the right message to each target public and generated a
          favourable climate of opinion in a difficult environment. Because of the
          special characteristics of the entity involved, the instruments chosen were
          participative shares.

          LLORENTE & CUENCA was faced with a complex initial situation: the lack of
          knowledge and reluctance with regard to participative shares, and a difficult
          economic climate which was having a major impact on the markets. By means of
          careful handling of information and major strategic deployment for each type of
          public, we were able to contribute to the success of the operation, winning the
          approval of government and praise from the regulatory bodies and the sector as
          a whole.

          The savings bank, as it became a listed company, needed a change of profile,
          for which LLORENTE & CUENCA was responsible. In a scenario in which all
          companies saw their shares drop in value, CAM recovered its initial listing
          price, and has been notably stable in the midst of the sharp falls in prices
          experienced by others.

          The strategy, made up of 3 phases, consisted of:

          •   Authorisation from government to issue participative shares within the
          periods stipulated, while boosting the bank's image and resolving any doubts
          that may exist about the shares.
          •   Having received approval from the government, adapt CAM's profile to
          that of a listed company.
          •   The flotation represented a turning point for the entity. Its profile
          had to be more transparent and open to the requirements of its stakeholders, so
          that it could contribute to maintaining the share price.

          The strategy followed by LLORENTE & CUENCA combined classic measures with
          innovative formulas that contributed on generating the best possible results.
          Thus, an Information and Monitoring System was implemented together with
          traditional monitoring to control all the information or opinions generated in
          each type of media, with particular attention to online media and forums. This
          enabled a review of all the information and opinions published and effective
          action or reaction to it.

          The coverage obtained during the campaign was outstanding, both quantitatively
          and qualitatively.

          Quantitative results: 1938 hits

          •   Before the start of the campaign: 42
          •   During the campaign: 821
          •   After the flotation: 1075

          Qualitative results: Media reproduced the key messages

          Phase I: The number of positive messages soared after approval by the Board of
          Directors (75%)

          •   Government approval by a wide majority
          •   Reinforcement of international expansion

          Phase II: The resistance to the shares dissipated

          Phase III: Satisfactory performance on the stock market

          •   A unique flotation in the Spanish market
          •   Much smaller loss of value than on average for the market
          –   At the close of 2008, a fall of 4.11% of its value compared with a 23%
          fall by the Ibex 35 index and 28% by Eurostoxx.
          –   Second most successful Spanish share in terms of smallest loss of value

   2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

          http://madrid.llorenteycuenca.com/publico/The International BusinessAwards/CAM/

   3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the team that carried out this nominated investor relations program:

          Luis Miguel Peña is Director of the Corporate Intelligence unit in the Madrid
          office of LL&C. Since he joined the firm in 2002, he has worked on the
          development of strategic communication plans for clients in a variety of
          sectors. Recently he coordinated communication for the first ever issue of
          participative shares by a Spanish savings bank and headed the Ministry of the
          Environment’s communication strategy on water policy at a national level. Luis
          Miguel leads a team of 10 consultants.
           
          He is a graduate in Business Administration and has a diploma in Business
          Administration from the University of California