Search results for

German bankers have been singing the praises of synthetic securitisation, a technique that allows issuers to avoid the country's high tax payable on special purpose vehicles. But there are some members of the choir who are still keen to see the market open up to true sale deals, and the cost savings that accompany them.

The flexibility of the EuroMTN market has enabled it to thrive at a time when the equity and public bond markets have been volatile and closed to many borrowers. Investors have been able to boost their returns by turning from credit to interest rate risk, while issuers have been able to move quickly to take advantage of pockets of demand. Neil Day reports on how MTN dealers have been keeping liquidity flowing.

In a exclusive interview with EuroWeek, David Iakobachvili, chairman of dairy products and fruit juice producer Wimm-Bill-Dann - the first Russian consumer goods company to list on the New York Stock Exchange, in February 2002 - shares his thoughts on the lessons he has learnt from the initial public offering and gives an insight into the ambitious company's plans. Guy Norton reports. What did you learn from meeting international equity investors on the roadshow for your IPO last year?

Australia Macquarie Bank has launched Australian lender Members Equity's latest securitisation of residential mortgages. The lead manager expects to price the A$310m deal, ME's largest to date, early next week.

Despite the Tokyo market yesterday (Thursday) plumbing 20 year lows, the country's first jumbo IPO of the year is under way. Taiyo Life Insurance is due to begin trading on the Tokyo Stock exchange on April 1 following an offer which could raise more than ¥90bn ($770m).

AUSTRALASIA Australia

CitiPower capitalised on a dearth of corporate bond issuance and the renown of its owners to launch a three tranche A$675m issue to strong demand on Monday. The Australian electricity distributor launched unwrapped and wrapped tranches to appeal to as broad an investor base as possible, in a manner similar to Snowy Hydro's A$500m issue last week. The tactic was a success, drawing in strong institutional investor interest and helping to minimise the spread difference between each tranche.

Hong Kong The Hong Kong Airport Authority (HKAA) has been speaking to banks about a potential $350m 10 year debut issue and should choose its lead managers early next week. The issue is unlikely to be launched for several weeks. It will be the first time that the institution has launched a deal outside the domestic market. For investors keen to grab sovereign-linked corporate credits, the issue will be ideal. HSBC is a strong candidate for a role in the issue, having led four Hong Kong dollar bonds for the company in the past two years. "This should be a virtual guaranteed sell," said one Hong Kong-based banker. "HKAA is a quality issuer and Hong Kong investors will snap it up." The best comparable credits are other state linked issuers such as Mass Transit Railway Corp, which has a 7.5% 2010 transaction that was trading at a bid/offer spread of 55bp/45bp over Treasuries yesterday (Thursday). "HKAA is not burdened by merger worries or IPO dilution of MTRC so it could look to get even better pricing," said one Hong Kong banker. Moody's dropped the rating of Citic Pacific this week from Baa2 to Baa3, citing the expected end of the guaranteed revenues from its Shanghai infrastructure investments. About 30% of Citic Pacific's operating revenues are made from the Shanghai projects, which yield guaranteed profits of about $105m a year. However, the company is negotiating with the city government about how to resolve the guaranteed returns, which could include selling the assets to the government. Analysts said that while Citic Pacific can re-invest the money from sales, there is no guarantee that it can get assets of the same quality. On the back of the downgrade, Citic Pacific's 7.625% 2011 issue widened from 230bp-240bp over Treasuries. The rating agency also dropped Citic Hong Kong (Holdings) from Baa3 to Ba1, due to the fact that Citic HK's 29% investment in Citic Pacific accounts for most its assets.