Market sources say $600 million in commitments has come in on BNP Paribas' credit for Zurich Capital Markets, including $200 commitments from Lloyds and Deutsche Bank, after the firm offered richer up-front fees this time around. Bankers said BNP Paribas has doubled the up-front fees it offered last year when it pitched the company's one-year commercial paper backstop to banks. The bank is offering three basis points for commitments up to $200 million, two basis points for commitments up to $100 million, and one basis point for commitments up to $50 million on the new credit. Pricing on the investment grade credit is similar to the last deal at LIBOR plus 22.5 basis points.
Last year, the firm shopped a $1 billion deal and increased the deal to $1.25 billion after the deal was oversubscribed by $1 billion. This year the firm is back out ambitiously looking to raise $2 billion for the insurance entity. BNP officials declined to comment. Garry Cowder, managing director for ZCM, did not return calls by press time.