Pre-migration untagged articles

French issuer Groupe Caisse d’Epargne braved the market on Monday with a two year deal at 51bp over mid-swaps, in line with the repricing of the market. In a sign of the nervous times, books were only officially opened after the shadow book gave the issuer and leads such confidence that they could be closed very shortly afterwards to reduce execution risk. Read EuroWeek on Friday to find out how the deal was received.

Bankers are pressing ahead with the jumbo facilities for InBev and Gas Natural and bank meetings for both scheduled for this week. But with UK gas producer BG Group’s bid for Australia’s Origin Energy having fallen through this week, the $14bn loan backing its offer is set to be cancelled, although the deal had already been through a first phase of syndication. Read EuroWeek online at www.euroweek.com/loans for bankers’ reaction to some of the biggest loans to hit the European market this year.

Despite the initial enthusiastic response of the credit markets to the GSE bailout, there are still problems — most of them called Lehman Brothers. The broker’s CDS gapped out by 125bp to 420bp/450bp, in line with the Bear Stearns highs of March as news of the collapse of the KDB deal swept the market.

Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s have gone on the offensive over the European Commission’s proposed regulatory framework for credit ratings agencies. Both agencies complain that the regulations would be too prescriptive, inconsistent with other regulators and could compromise independence of ratings. Do their protests have merit, and will they be heard? Read Euroweek for more details.

Indian telecom company Reliance Communication is aiming to raise $1.5bn in what would be the third largest syndicated loan for an Indian borrower this year. The loan will be split between the parent company and Reliance Telecom Infrastructure, which holds all its existing wireless towers. Read EuroWeek on Friday to find out bankers’ reactions to this unusual structure, plus more news on what to expect from the syndicated loan market in the final quarter of 2008.

Resolution , the investment vehicle led by Clive Cowdery, this week revealed its £1bn London IPO plans. Cowdery wants the cash for finance acquisitions, after Resolution in June approached Bradford & Bingley during its rights issue with plans to acquire a stake. The float is planned for November and would be a vote of confidence in equity markets. What are its chances? Find out in EuroWeek on Friday.

A tentative start to the week in US debt markets saw Barrick Gold issuing a $1.25bn 5s/10s/30s but it's still too early to tell if the GSE rescue constitutes a major turning point.

Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank have mandated banks to structure their debut covered bonds, EuroWeek can reveal, as interest in the product continues to grow across Asia. A number of questions still hang over the feasibility of Korean borrowers issuing covered bonds, and the borrowers remain in discussions with the regulator and rating agencies, but bankers are hoping to launch the first Korean covered bond by the end of the year. Visit Euroweek.com/asia – now updated daily – for more, and read EuroWeek on Friday for the full story.

Sterling has proved the currency of choice so far in the European corporate bond market, with Imperial Tobacco offering a £600m 2024 tranche alongside its Eu750m 2014 deal and gas supplier Centrica £750m of bonds due 2033 and 2018.

For all those with 20-20 vision, 1-800 Contacts may not be a household name.

Banks were set to launch a covenant lite, original issue discount-free acquisition for Laureate Education.