Search results for

MERITA and Merrill Lynch have won the fiercely contested mandate to be joint global co-ordinators for the flotation of Aleksia, the Finnish property holding company, which will become one of the few listed property investment stocks in the Nordic region. "This deal was being chased by the big guns from several US firms," said one local banker. "Aleksia has a unique position in the Finnish property market and is well placed to take advantage of booming economic conditions in Helsinki."

GLOBAL co-ordinator Morgan Stanley Dean Witter made the most of the sharp recovery in the US stockmarket yesterday (Thursday) by executing the hugely successful $3.1bn sale of stock in Equant, the Atlanta and Amsterdam-based data communications carrier. The firm's ordinary shares, trading in Paris and New York, have performed spectacularly since the group's $810m IPO last summer when they were priced at $27 (Ffr161.66).

THE BOOK for the privatisation sale of shares in Air France has been massively oversubscribed, more than 10 days before final allocations, providing a pleasant surprise for the French government and its banks -- SG, Crédit Agricole Indosuez and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. The response from both local and international investors has been extraordinary, given conditions in the airline industry and nervous European markets.

GLOBAL co-ordinators ABN Amro Rothschild and Nomura this week defied nervousness in global stockmarkets to complete the sale of stock in Estonia Telecom, the country's national telecommunications operator. Rival bankers heaped praise on the lead firms for their swift execution of the deal, while the stock's strong performance in the aftermarket attested to the success of the sale.

MERRILL Lynch has won the mandate to lead the $50m to $100m convertible bond for Borsodchem, the Hungarian chemicals group. This is set to be the first issue in the international equity linked markets by a Hungarian listed company, making it one of the most prestigious mandates awarded to date by a central European issuer.

AFTER A BOUT of nerves at the beginning of this week, the US market recovered yesterday (Thursday) buoyed by a rally in technology stocks, with internet companies leading the way. The volume of issuance was undiminished by the market jitters, and this week was busy for both new and secondary offerings.

THE STRENGTH of demand for corporate paper was illustrated yet again this week with the launch of a highly successful Eu1.1bn five year transaction for Repsol, the largest oil company in Spain. Lead managed by BBV, Goldman Sachs and Invercaixa, the deal more than doubled in size between conception and execution.

5483

5380

BEFORE THE arrival of the single currency, European sovereigns enjoyed the benefits of being the benchmark issuer in their domestic currencies. Investors regarded their debt as the risk-free benchmark, their products were the most liquid available in the currency, and competition from similar credits was minimal. With the arrival of the euro, the market landscape has changed dramatically. Smaller and medium sized EU states now face many of the same challenges that non-sovereigns have long encountered. Behind the benchmark issuers, France and Germany, the remaining EU members now form the top tier of the new credit market.

THE US corporate bond market continued its strong run this week with over $6bn worth of deals priced, many of which were increased in size to accommodate growing investor appetite for spread product. Investors chased the top jumbo globals, but other high grade deals, like the $400m 10 year offering by the Washington Post at 67bp, (Goldman Sachs) and a $900m two tranche issue by BBB rated Equistar Chemical (Chase and NationsBank Montgomery) were equally in big demand, the latter having increased its offering from $700m.

5490