Search results for

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA Amount: £100m (fungible with three issues totalling £250m first launched 20/09/02)

Guarantor: Bank of Scotland Rating: Aa2/AA/AA

Rating: Aa3/A Amount: $1bn (increased from $750m)

Barclays has moved from fourth position in 2001 to number one in the league table for mandated arrangers of Euromarket loans in 2002, pushing JP Morgan into second place. Citigroup/SSSB came in in third as it did in 2001, as did ABN Amro in ninth, SG in 10th and WestLB at number 11. One of the most impressive performers was BNP Paribas which shot up from number eight in 2001 to number five in 2002. The bank made impressive moves out of its home market into Germany where it won a role as one of the mandated arrangers for Volkswagen's Eu15bn loan and in the UK, where it has recently clinched a leading role in the $6.5bn acquisition financing for Cadbury's.

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA Amount: Sfr500m

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA Amount: A$100m

Rating: Aa2/AA-/AA- Amount: Eu600m

ABN Amro has started the year on a high note - the Dutch bank has clinched the mandate to arrange a £1bn three year loan for Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc. The facility will support the company's all-paper acquisition of UK supermarket Safeway plc announced yesterday (Thursday). As the takeover will be facilitated by a share swap the loan is not an acquisition facility and will more than likely feature general corporate purposes pricing.

Activity in the bank capital market has continued where it left off at the end of 2002 with a busy start to the year. BNP Paribas closed a self-led tier one Eu700m perpetual note that was oversubscribed by almost 100%. And OKO Bank, the Finnish financial institution that has not been in the market since September 2000, priced a Eu400m three year note that was oversubscribed within the first few hours of launch.

EuroWeek hears that private equity house Cinven which is in pole position for the buy-out of Fitness First is in discussions with leading leveraged finance banks about the deal's financing. The LBO will be a £370m public-to-private transaction.

The auto sector led the revival of the corporate bond market this week. Although Volkswagen (VW) was the first corporate to announce deal plans, it was Ford Motor Credit Corp (FMCC) that managed to execute its issue first. The sector is leading an encouraging charge by corporate issuers, with deals from Volvo, GMAC, Peugeot and Renault in the pipeline. However, the race to be the first to tap into the pool of cash rich, bullish investors has been intense.

The auto sector led the revival of the corporate bond market this week. Although Volkswagen (VW) was the first corporate to announce deal plans, it was Ford Motor Credit Corp (FMCC) that managed to execute its issue first. The sector is leading an encouraging charge by corporate issuers, with deals from Volvo, GMAC, Peugeot and Renault in the pipeline. However, the race to be the first to tap into the pool of cash rich, bullish investors has been intense.