Search results for

7555

7567

THE DEADLINE for banks to commit to the sub-underwriting senior lead manager level in the £2.4bn credit facility for PowerGen Finance is today (Friday). Arrangers Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and HSBC are confident that the phase will be a successful one. A banker at one of the arranging banks predicts that 21 out of the 22 banks approached will come in as the sub-underwriting senior lead managers. "The deal has been extremely successful -- more so than most of us anticipated," said one London banker. "Maybe a few banks will come in early next week, but it has to go down as one of the best deals so far this year."

THE FLOW of reverse convertibles continues despite signs of new issue fatigue among investors that have absorbed a record number of these synthetic instruments in the last few months. Nine transactions were launched this week, although salesmen say that in the current market weakness there are not many stocks trading in the correct pattern to back a reverse CB.

HOPES OF financial support for Russia from the G7 enabled Russian Eurobond prices to stage a partial recovery yesterday (Thursday) after plunging investor confidence in the country's economic prospects caused Russia's Euromarket debt to slump to default-type levels.

HOPES OF financial support for Russia from the G7 enabled Russian Eurobond prices to stage a partial recovery yesterday (Thursday) after plunging investor confidence in the country's economic prospects caused Russia's Euromarket debt to slump to default-type levels.

PREFERRED Mortgages has issued its debut mortgage backed security, adding a new name to the growing market for UK sub prime mortgages. Launched by Greenwich NatWest via special purpose vehicle Preferred Residential Securities no 1 plc, the £50m bond marks another breakthrough -- Financial Security Assurance has provided a triple-A wrap, the first from a monoline insurer in the UK market for non-conforming mortgages.

* Two headline Italian securitisations have moved a little closer with the award of mandates. Paribas looks to have won the mandate to securitise as much as Lit1.5tr of non-performing assets for Banca di Roma, while Greenwich NatWest has emerged as near certain holder of a mandate for a Lit500m to Lit1bn non-performing loan security for Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena. Neither of the winning banks would comment but the mandates are choice prizes; despite the potential pitfalls of Italian securitisations, particularly of non-performing assets, the country is widely perceived as one with substantial potential.

THE BANK of Thailand has revealed a scheme that will aid the recapitalisation of the country's banks by offering a five year money back guarantee to investors. This should give them the confidence they need to invest in Thailand's distressed banking sector. Bankers gave the scheme a cautious welcome. Said one: "It's a curious device -- essentially a put option at issue price and a deferred nationalisation programme. More importantly, it provides the banks with cost free capital for five years without burdening the government." He said the move could help to create the wrong mentality among management but overall it was a clever and positive step.

MALAYSIA has established a new vehicle to aid the recapitalisation of the country's banks. But bankers, analysts and investors remain sceptical that the fund, named Danamodal Nasional Bhd, will sucessfully attract international capital. Said one Kuala Lumpur-based investor: "Any investment in the fund requires an enormous leap of faith. Rather than taking a decision on which bank to invest in you have to trust the board of Danamodal."

* ABN AMRO has emerged as the surprise frontrunner for the $300m mandate for a World Bank guaranteed deal from the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT). Although the electricity generator's decision has yet to be made public, Thailand experts believe that the Dutch bank has secured its first major bond mandate from the region. In doing so it beat off strong competition from other short-listed banks including Barclays Capital, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers.

Australia HIH Winterthur's instalment receipts suffered in the aftermath of Wall Street's fall this week. The deal itself failed to raise as much as expected. The instalment receipts were priced at A$1.60 and raised A$436.5m.