As always in the backstabbing world of investment banking, the knives were quick to come out when San Miguel's trailblazing corporate hybrid bond faltered. Rival investment bankers sneered that the prestigious combination of Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and HSBC as bookrunners were trying to price the bond too tightly with a 9% coupon, that the resulting order book of around US$750 million was far too small to support the deal, and that the poison pen letter offered a convenient excuse.
June 11, 2006