Search results for

Rating: A3

Did you also think that the Cazenove story was at an end when the last of the truly gentlemanly City stockbrokers sold its soul to the socially suspect JP Morgan Chase?

Cazenove on Wednesday lost the corporate broking mandate for security services company Group4Securicor to Deutsche Bank, the company's junior broker, and now is sole broker.

Bond investors' craving for yield catapulted CDOs to a new prominence in 2004, aided by greater secondary liquidity and transparency. But the year was also one of hard graft: with spreads contracting sharply across the credit markets, dealers have had to find new structures and asset classes to eke out an arbitrage for investors. The result was a flowering of different structures. Jo Moulds reports.

EU accession on May 1 boosted the economic stability of 10 new member states, allowing investors to buy central and eastern European currencies more confidently and secure tasty returns too. Rosie Irving talks to bankers about last year's market.

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

Allocations for PEC International Leasing's $55m three year term loan have been finalised. The facility was oversubscribed and increased from $40m. Mandated arranger Mizuho Corporate Bank held $15m.

The European Commission has pledged to adjudicate rapidly on rescue plans for Alitalia which must be approved before the embattled Italian airline can complete a Eu1.2bn recapitalisation.

Rating: Ba3/BB-

With European companies in deleveraging mode and unsecured credit being almost given away, 2004 was never going to be a bumper year for corporate securitisation. The bright light for structured finance, away from financial assets, was commercial property ? securitisation of which almost doubled. As Chris Dammers reports, the investment banks are now locked in a real estate battle, with their CMBS conduits as weapons. For European governments, it was another year of tight budgets, and hence, of big securitisations.

Corporate bond issuers and investors had a good run in 2004 ? borrowers benefited from the attractive funding opportunities available as spreads continued to tighten, while buyers were happy to see an upturn in credit quality. However, corporate debt capital market bankers are hoping 2005 will be a more profitable and interesting year, after the low issuance of 2004, reports Clare O'Callaghan.