BMW Finance is thinking of entering an interest-rate swap to hedge the interest rate risk on a recent 15-year EUR750 million (USD850 million) bond. Elmer Steurer, co-head of capital markets in Munich, said, "We are thinking of converting part or all of the bond into a floating rate [bond]."
Steurer said, "It is most likely that the maturity of the swap will match that of the bond, the fixed rate will match the bond coupon and it will be carried out on three-month Euribor but we have not finalized these details yet." The bond pays a 5% coupon.
Since BMW books sales and profits in euros, there is no need to carry out a foreign exchange hedge on the bond, noted Steurer.
Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, HSBC and HypoVereinsbank were the bookrunners of the bond.