Search results for

Rating: A2/A/A+

If a new market is rated by the number of acronyms it spawns, the Japanese private convertible bond market is a clear winner. MPOs, MSCBs, Pipes — call them what you will, the market is attracting a swarm of issuers, particularly from middle market Japan. EuroWeek asks some of the leading investment bank arranger-underwriters in Tokyo to demystify this dynamic and often misunderstood new market.

Private equity firms BC Partners, Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners are close to winning the bid for telecoms company Com Hem. The buy-out is rumoured to be worth around Eu900m.

EuroWeek hears that regional government agency Västra Götalandsregion (VGR) has mandated Svenska Handelsbanken to arrange a Skr9bn facility.

Rating: A

Treasuries across the euro zone must be quaking. First, Domenico Nardelli resigns in October from the Tesoro in Italy. He starts at Bank of America in January.

Credit Suisse First Boston has launched an equity trading capability in Mexico City, adding to its fixed income trading, capital markets operations and investment advisory services in Mexico.

Alm Brand Bank has taken a full oversubscription on its Eu150m loan, via BayernLB and Danske Bank, and increased it to Eu375m.

Morgan Stanley's most senior executive in Europe, Sir David Walker, is to retire from the investment bank at the end of the year. He will remain at the firm in a senior advisory position. He will be replaced by Jonathan Chenevix-Trench, a managing director at Morgan Stanley with 21 years' service at the company. Sir David was managing director of Morgan Stanley & Co Inc, Chairman of Morgan Stanley International Inc and executive chairman of the firm's European operations from 1994 to 2000.

Two convertible bonds were offered in Europe and the Middle East this week, both substantial deals that bring an end to a long drought of issuance.

National Bank of Dubai, the second biggest bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by assets, opened its account with international investors this week when it sold $750m of five year bonds through Bank of America and HSBC. The debut was priced through initial guidance on Monday at a re-offer margin of 39bp over three month Libor and pays a coupon of 35bp over — the lowest pricing in the bond markets from a UAE bank.

Among triple-A credits, the European Investment Bank and Rabobank have been rare exceptions this year, tapping the global and Euroyen markets for ¥100bn and ¥50bn respectively. As in most of the recent years, the world's top borrowers have remained focused on the private yen medium term note market for their yen requirements. To soak up some of the vast retail liquidity in Japan, they have also maintained their enthusiasm for the Uridashi market. And that vast liquidity means that ever more of the global dollar and euro issues are being sold into Japan.