TORONTO, Oct. 31, 2012 /CNW/ - CIBC's wholesale bank has been recognized with three infrastructure and project finance awards:

• Canadian Project Finance Bank of the Year by Acquisition International Magazine;
• Best Bank of the Year - Project Finance & Infrastructure - Canada, by DealMakers Monthly Magazine, and;
• International - Overall PFI/P3 Bank of the Year by ACQ Magazine.

"These awards underscore the confidence that our clients have in us when it comes to advising on and executing complex infrastructure financings" said CIBC's Cliff Inskip, Managing Director and Head of Infrastructure & Project Finance, Debt Capital Markets. "Meeting our clients' needs in the infrastructure business is a key priority for us, and these awards recognize our success."

CIBC is a well-established financial advisor on infrastructure acquisitions, public private partnerships (P3s) and project financings including pipelines, renewable power projects, schools, hospitals, courthouses, rail projects, highways and bridges.

In addition to advisory roles, CIBC has been active in bond underwriting and arranging for the infrastructure sector. CIBC recently jointly led bond offerings for an award winning $2.6 billion hydro generation project in Ontario and a $1.5 billion highway P3 project in Alberta.  CIBC was also the first Canadian bank to lead bond offerings for an airport authority, a university, a ferry operator, a port authority and a pooled school board financing corporation.

"CIBC has also been a leading project lender with a focus on P3s, the power sector and acquisitions of infrastructure assets," adds Peter Mastromarini, Managing Director and Group Head, Power & Utilities, Infrastructure and Real Estate, Corporate Credit Products.  He notes that in the past three years CIBC has led or co-led more than a dozen P3 projects as well as over $10 billion in project financings for wind, hydro, solar, geothermal, biomass, biogas and natural gas power projects and transmission.  CIBC's lending activities in support of infrastructure acquisitions have included toll roads, rail, ports and airports.

CIBC has infrastructure and project finance specialists in Canada, the U.K., U.S. and Australia.

About the Awards
The Acquisition International M&A Awards annually recognize financial, legal and other advisory firms involved in dealmaking.  Award winners are selected based on the votes received by industry peers along with the company's in-house research.

The DealMakers Annual Banking Awards recognize banks in various jurisdictions based on surveys of management professionals at banks, law firms, private equity and financial advisory firms, investment and fund managers, and asset-based lenders.

The ACQ Global Awards recognize the best industry practitioners working across the world based on surveys of its readers who work in the fields of law, accounting, investment banking underwriting, lending, financial and tax advisory and private equity.

About CIBC
CIBC's wholesale banking business provides a range of integrated credit and capital markets products, investment banking, and merchant banking to clients in key financial markets in North America and around the world. We provide innovative capital solutions and advisory expertise across a wide range of industries as well as top-ranked research for our corporate, government and institutional clients.

SOURCE: CIBC World Markets