Search results for

Rating: Aaa/AAA Tranche 1: $1bn

Italian conference centre operator Fiera Milano this week launched an IPO which will value it at up to Eu289m. SG and UniCredit Banca Mobiliare are leading the deal, which is Italy's first major IPO since ASM Brescia floated in July. The flotation will comprise 13m shares at a range of Eu7.5-Eu8.75. The institutional portion will comprise 10.4m shares, with the balance aimed at retail buyers. There will also be a greenshoe of 1.5m shares.

After last week's explosion of dollar issuance, the Thanksgiving holiday curtailed supply this week. ICO shone in the dollar market with a $1bn three year bond, while Tesco dominated in euros and sterling, raising £1.1bn equivalent in four tranches. Vodafone made its last major appearance of the year with a Eu500m five year deal, which like its dollar and sterling predecessors was heavily criticised and widened substantially. Vodafone is now said to be planning an Aussie dollar issue.

Mandated arranger Nordea signed banks into the Eu360m seven year term loan for Citycon this week. Nordea has underwritten Eu140m. Svenska Handelsbanken and EuroHypo joined as arrangers for takes of Eu110m each. Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes and to finance future property investment. The borrower is Finland's leading listed property investment company.

BayernLB has launched general syndication of a Eu75m dual tranche loan for Union de Banques Arabes et Françaises. Tranche 'A' is a three year facility which is priced at 35bp over Euribor, while 'B' is for five years and pays 50bp. A commitment fee of 22.5bp is payable on tranche 'B'.

Amount: Eu1.062bn Rating: Moody's/Standard & Poor's

The European Investment Bank yesterday (Thursday) celebrated 25 years in the sterling market, a period in which the supranational has become the premier Gilt surrogate with £32bn of debt outstanding in the sector. The subject of the silver jubilee celebration - a £25m Eurobond maturing in 1992 - was announced on November 28, 1977 and was lead managed by Credit Suisse White Weld. Now the EIB boasts a whole yield curve of sterling issues with a size of over £1bn stretching from 2003 to 2032. Notably, its 2028 flagship issue now stands at around £3.5bn.

Shares in France Télécom shot up 25% on Wednesday and Thursday after speculation about the content of next week's restructuring plan. Bankers believe that the government is planning to transfer its 54.5% stake into a new vehicle, extend France Télécom a Eu9bn loan via state owned bank CDC and then launch a Eu5bn bond early next year.

General Electric Capital Corp (GECC) will push heavily into the US retail market next year with around $7bn-$10bn of InterNote issuance as it continues to diversify its funding sources away from commercial paper and plain vanilla term debt markets in an attempt to lower funding costs. Last Friday (November 22), the company filed a $20bn shelf with the SEC as part of a two year InterNotes programme of which Chicago-based Incapital LLC and Banc of America Securities are joint lead managers.

Amount: Eu174.6m Rating: Fitch/Standard and Poor's

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA Amount: Sfr100m (fungible with Sfr250m issue launched 12/11/02)

Syndication of the debt facilities backing Bain Capital and Dor-Moplefan's Eu200m acquisition of polypropylene film business Trespasphan is going well. Arranger JP Morgan has invited banks to commit Eu20m for fees of 100bp or Eu15m for 85bp.