Outrights ponder €3bn Fortis Cashes tender

BNP Paribas on Thursday launched a tender offer for €3bn of convertible and subordinated hybrid equity-linked securities (Cashes) issued by Fortis Bank, in a deal that unwinds a complex arrangement underlying the 2009 restructuring of the Dutch lender. The go-ahead for the transaction depends on the bank getting a 50% acceptance rate, which is no certainty given some outright investors’ hesitation to sell, according to one equity-linked specialist away from the deal.