Search results for

The loan market in Europe has traditionally been based on a sacred relationship between lender and borrower, but bank portfolio management is chipping away at this union as a growing number of options are available to banks to reduce exposure to specific companies. In some cases, portfolio managers are trying to force loans groups to lend in a more disciplined way to relationship customers. Taron Wade asks whether they are succeeding when investment grade debt is in such short supply.

Akbank?s $375m one year deal is oversubscribed ahead of close. The target date for signing is August 3.

When we were in Sotogrande, mingling with all those former CSFB bankers who own rock-piles, we were constantly being asked about the reasons behind the soaring success of UBS. One rather glamorous wife commented: ?My husband still owns several thousand Credit Suisse shares which have performed like a dog, while he has a pal at the new UBS who has become seriously wealthy through his UBS shares. Why is that, as I remember that when my husband and his friends were senior managers at CSFB, they would barely give UBS the time of day??

The $25m 364 day loan for Bank Aval is in documentation and is to be signed by the end of July. Deutsche Bank and RZB are mandated lead arrangers on the deal, which pays a margin of 380bp over Libor. Commerzbank is an arranger.

A consortium backed by BNP Paribas, ANZ and KfW has won the bid to acquire the plant and expand Abu Dhabi?s power and water desalination plant.

EADS, the European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., has signed banks into its Eu2bn revolver. The five year deal has a one year extension option after the first and second years. BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan are the bookrunners.

Nomura Holdings has signed banks into its $1.5bn 364 day unsecured revolver, expanding its bank group by nine.

Rating: Aa2/AA/AAA

Guarantor: Republic of Austria

Oman LNG has taken out a $175m loan in addition to its $1.364bn loan, signed in March 2002, which has $1.2bn still outstanding. The borrower has invited the same group of banks as on the previous deal to syndicate the loan, which will have an eight year tenor.