Search results for

China Arrangers BA Asia, Banque Paribas, Credit Suisse First Boston and Tokai Bank are close to wrapping up the expanded co-arranging group for the $775m project financing for the Meizhouwan power plant for borrower Fujian Pacific Electric Company. General syndication will be launched soon afterwards.

THE GREEK government has announced that CSFB, Salomon Smith Barney and National Bank of Greece will lead the forthcoming sale of shares in Hellenic Telecom (OTE). HSBC will act as co-global co-ordinator. The sale, planned to begin in October for completion the following month, will raise between $2bn and $2.5bn through the sale of some of the government's stake as well as a capital increase of primary shares.

WHO THOUGHT that the once mighty Nomura had thrown in the Euro towel and sponge -- oh ye of little faith? Just because Wednesday's results were dire (but not quite as bad as Nikko's), and Nomura languishes in the sluices of the primary league tables, there is no need to look up the number of the local undertaker. With the intellectually and financially formidable Max Chapman in charge and stars such as Craig Schiffer and Andrew Asbury behind their desks, Nomura is quite capable of making a Euromarket charge at any time -- the bank is not interested in making the big US push it would need to figure once again at the top of the headline 'all international bonds' tables.

Bahrain General syndication has closed on the $400m loan for Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) arranged by Al-Ahli Commercial Bank, Arab Banking Corporation, Arab National Bank, Chase Manhattan, SG and Sumitomo Bank. All arrangers took $26,388,889 each.

GOLDMAN Sachs this week launched a highly successful exchangeable bond on behalf of the City of Dusseldorf, exchangeable into ordinary bearer shares in one of Germany's leading conglomerates, RWE. The DM417.92m deal was launched through a special purpose vehicle, Dusseldorfer Stadtwerke Gesellschaft fur Beteiligungen. The five year bonds were fixed to include an annual coupon of 2.5% with an initial exchange premium of 37% over the DM98.5 Xetra close of RWE shares, or 35.22% over the DM99.80 Frankfurt close.

US CREDIT card issuer Capital One made its sterling debut this week, via a transaction that was Barclays Capital's fourth US credit card securitisation of 1998. The transaction was actually two £250m issues -- Capital One Master Trust's Series 1998-2, a one year bond, and Series 1998-3, with an expected maturity of three years.

PARIBAS launched the second asset backed bond in euros this week, and introduced a new asset class in Italian securitisation -- consumer loans. The Eu311m transaction parcelled loans for Findomestic SpA, the second largest Italian consumer credit provider after Fiatsava, the captive finance company of Fiat.

FIRST USA launched its fourth US credit card securitisation of 1998 this week, in a $842.25m deal sole managed by Salomon Smith Barney. The lead introduced a new application for the technique it has pioneered to allow the most subordinated part of a credit card transaction to be sold as a registered bond. Salomon primarily designed that security to allow US pension funds and other fund managers which follow ERISA investment criteria to buy the subordinated interest, and the first trials of the structure were sold fixed rate to meet their needs.

* The first term securitisation from Portugal may emerge as early as next week. Deutsche Bank is roadshowing a DM450m package of unsecured consumer loans for Banco Comercial Português. With a seven year final maturity, the deal will include a double-A rated senior tranche with a three year average life and a mezzanine, likely rated single-A, with a five year average life.

"Worst of" default swaps are default swaps on a basket of issuers in which only the first default is covered.

In recent years, value-at-risk has been considered one of the best measures of risk by banks and other financial institutions.

THE MALAYSIAN government is continuing to push swiftly ahead with its prospective $2bn global bond offering for the Asset Management Corporation (AMC), maintaining a tight launch schedule which should see the offering priced by early August at the very latest. Documentation for the JP Morgan and UBS led issue is being finalised, although both the government and leads have acknowledged that timing depended upon Thailand's final decision on its own transaction.