Search results for

5395

Angola Warburg Dillon Read plans to close general syndication of the $500m oil contract pre-export financing for Sociedade Nacional de Combustiveis de Angola (Sonangol) early next week. All reports indicate the deal has been well supported.

THE REPUBLIC of Argentina continued to show the rest of Latin America how to run a successful funding programme, launching a Eu300m five year euro bond to bring its overall capital raising to over $1bn in little over a week. The offering, led by CSFB and Deutsche Bank, was the first plain vanilla public euro deal by a Latin American borrower this year and follows last week's Eu100m three year private placement (led by CSFB), a Eu350m nine year step down deal (MSDW) fungible with three other deals done last year in Deutschmarks, guilders and French francs, and a $200m reopening of its 2017 global bond (JP Morgan).

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.

Hong Kong Bank of Boston has been mandated to arrange a $260m financing for Cathay Pacific Airways.

Australia Lead arrangers Deutsche Bank Australia, BA Australia, National Australia Bank and Toronto-Dominion Australia are arranging a A$1.1bn loan for Texas Utilities Australia Pty for the first phase of the Victorian gas privatisations in Australia.

5374

Market commentary: Compiled by Glenn Blackley, RBC DS Global Markets, London. Tel: +44 171-865 1759

The £2.2bn senior debt facility backing Axa's £3.44bn agreed acquisition of Guardian Royal Exchange has been cut to £1bn, after Axa raised Eu1.5bn through a convertible bond issue last week. The senior debt is split into two tranches -- a three year tranche and one that matures on December 31, 1999. The three year tranche carries a margin of 27.5bp over Libor with a commitment fee of 12.5bp and the short term tranche carries a margin of 25bp with a commitment fee of 10bp.

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.