Search results for

Argentina The $600m two tranche facility being arranged by Chase Securities Inc, Credit Suisse First Boston and JP Morgan Securities Inc for Maxus Energy Corp was signed on November 25.

Liberia Chase Manhattan plc has completed a $105m 10 year revolving/term credit facility for High Tide Shipping Corporation, High Seas Maritime Inc, High Challenge Shipping Corp, High Spirit Shipping Corp and High Wind Shipping Corp.

Australia The A$500m financing for Normandy Mining Finance Ltd has closed oversubscribed and was increased to A$700m.

A week which began nervously in Tokyo - with a redefinition of the expression "it'll end in tears" - appeared to send out conflicting signals about whether or not a watershed had been reached in the international syndicated loans market. By yesterday some London-based bankers were expressing the view that pricing for most borrowers, in developed as well as emerging markets, had now bottomed out.

India American Express Bank has been mandated to arrange a $26.5m fundraising for Applicomp India Ltd, a manufacturer of compressor motors for refrigerators.

Bookrunner Morgan Stanley Dean Witter this week successfully overcame worldwide uncertainty in stockmarkets to complete the $704m offering of stock in Benckiser, the household cleaning products company. The deal was one of the largest IPOs ever launched from the Dutch equity market and follows on from sales for New Holland, Vendex and Ispat.

Syndication closed this week on the Ffr10bn multicurrency revolving credit launched by Réseau Ferré de France (RFF), which owns and manages France's railway infrastructure. The syndication, which bankers describe as having been a great success, follows the recent Ffr60bn Cades facility which was oversubscribed by around 100%, leaving many lenders hungry for more top-notch French assets.

A potentially huge new asset class was opened in the US this week as Morgan Stanley brought the first securitisation of utility stranded costs for Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Encouraged by the federal government, US states are beginning to deregulate public utilities, particularly electricity suppliers. Many electricity companies incurred costs as a result of operating as regulated monopolies, which will put them at a disadvantage against new entrants to the market. Typically these liabilities are contracts to buy power at above market rates from nuclear and renewable generators.

US and overseas investors jumped at their first chance to buy a term debt securitisation of film revenues as Chase and Bear Stearns brought a $325m deal for Steven Spielberg's new DreamWorks studio two weeks ago. Details only emerged this week about the 144A private deal. A CapMAC guarantee lent the bond a triple-A rating. It pays 22bp over three month Libor with an expected average life of 3.3 or 4.3 years.

Comptoir des Entrepreneurs launched an innovative triple-A rated funding vehicle last Friday with Ffr2.1bn of bonds split between the French domestic and Euro-French franc markets. The vehicle, Vauban Mobilisations Garanties, is the first issuer of mortgage backed securities in France registered as a company rather than a fonds commun de créances (debt mutual fund).

THE JAKARTA Stock Exchange (JSE) crashed through the 400 point barrier this week, reaching a four year low. The Jakarta index has lost almost half its value since the beginning of the rupiah devaluation on July 9 when it peaked at 742.95. The JSE closed yesterday (Thursday) at 396.13. Despite the continued shake-out, and predictions that the JSE still has further to fall, Indonesian brokerage PT Makindo is pushing ahead with its 377m share IPO.

* ING Barings announced this week that its Asian chief executive Jeremy Palmer is to be re-located to London, where he will take up a new appointment as head of global corporate finance. Hong Kong-based Palmer will remain a member of the Asian regional management committee and as joint head of equities at ING until a successor is found. Palmer joined Barings Brothers in 1994 shortly before its collapse. He previously worked in the equity divisions of Salomon Brothers and JP Morgan. Following Barings' acquisition by ING Bank, Palmer became regional head of investment banking, and more recently moved into a debt origination role under his most recent title as regional CEO.