Outrights ponder €3bn Fortis Cashes tender

27 Jan 2012

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.

BNP Paribas is offering a cash price of 45.0-47.5 for the bonds, a premium to the pre-offer trading level at the 38.0 mark. Earlier in the week the bonds had traded around 1.5 points lower, but jumped in afternoon trade ahead of the announcement.

After the announcement, the ...

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