Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberosterreich (RaiffeisenLB) signed a euro2 billion ($1.96 billion) debt issuance programme on June 19. Deutsche Bank is the arranger. Martin Schaller, treasurer at RaiffeisenLB, says: "We don't plan any large benchmark deal just yet because we don't have much funding requirement left for the year. But we will be open to small opportunistic deals straight away, probably in the structured private placement sector and next year we will do the benchmark deal." Schaller revealed that Deutsche Bank (one of RaiffeisenLB's relationship banks) is likely to scoop the bookrunner mandate when the benchmark deal is launched next year. But the mandate for the first private trade off the programme is up for grabs, as RaiffeisenLB says it is open to reverse enquiry. Schaller says: "We will probably do some small structured trades in euro, Swiss franc, yen or Czech koruna this year and in the remainder of 2002 we will raise between euro10 million and euro50 million." He adds: "We already have an Austrian retail investor base, but we would like to tap German, Italian, Swiss and Japanese institutional investors. Our aim is to diversify and internationalize our funding." RaiffeisenLB is the central bank for the cooperative banks in the region of upper Austria. It has no affiliation to Raiffeisen Zentralbank Oesterreich and is upper Austria's equivalent to Germany's DZ Bank. The issuer is rated A-1 by Moody's. The dealers off the programme are BNP Paribas, Caboto IntesaBci, Deutsche Bank, DZ Bank, Morgan Stanley, Schroder Salomon Smith Barney, UBS Warburg and the issuer.
June 28, 2002
