Search results for

After a quiet summer season, the Scandinavian leveraged market picked up this week with the announcement that equity house Gilde Investment Management will buy out Sapa Autoplastics for Skr1.22bn. The new company will be called Plastal Group. Some 65% of the buy-out cost will be funded by senior debt with the balance in the form of equity.

* European Investment Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA

Finland Nine arrangers have joined senior syndication of the debt facility for Finnish insurer Sampo.

* Aegon NV Rating: Aa3/AA-/AA-

* Barclays Bank plc Rating: Aa3/AA-

The Polish treasury will delay the sale of a Z4.3bn (Eu1.1bn) stake in Telekomunikcja Polska (TPSA), the Polish telecoms operator. The sale, which had been planned for September, has now been pushed back to December. The treasury cited difficult market conditions for the delay. But bankers suggested that problems surrounding discussions with France Télécom (FT) were crucial to events.

The bank list for the $500m dual tranche revolver for Sage Group plc has been released. The deal supports the accounting software group's $183m acquisition of Interact Commerce Corp. Deutsche Bank, HSBC, ING Bank and Wachovia join as lead managers with a final allocation of $30m.

Globals * Fannie Mae

Twenty trades were closed in US dollar on Friday, but they made up 54% of the market volume. Federal Home Loan Banks was a big contributor to this, with its $1.213 billion 18-month note. And it was not the only public finance institution in dollar - Export Development Corp closed a $100 million note that matures in 2011. The trade pays interest quarterly and was the second largest note in US dollar on Friday. French and UK borrowers were active in the currency. French names were Credit Lyonnais Finance, CDC IXIS Capital Markets and BNP Paribas. CDC IXIS Capital Markets closed the longest-dated dollar trade. The $10 million goes out to 2021 and pays a final coupon of 7.790%. Issuers from the UK were HSBC Bank, Bank of Western Australia and Beta Finance, which was the only non-banking entity to issue. Its $10 million three-year note pays interest quarterly.

Twenty-one notes were closed in US dollar yesterday, totalling over $2.94 billion-worth. Two $1 billion trades were issued by Freddie Mac with maturities of one and two years. The short end in US dollar has fallen off and the shortest-dated trades were for one year. Maturities have begun to move out as well. World Bank did a 20-year $75 million note, due on September 7. An occasional name in the market, Republic of Argentina, issued four three-year notes for $20.10 million, $45 million, $5.89 million and $21.22 million. It has previously issued four notes this year, three in dollar that all mature in 2004 and one in euro that goes out to 2007.

Fourteen issuers tapped the US dollar sector yesterday, closing 22 trades between them. Five and six years were the most popular maturities, with nine dollar trades falling into this sector. And most borrowers were at the higher end of the credit spectrum, with triple-A names like Freddie Mac and KfW, but also from the double-A and single-A borrowers. The borrowers that accessed the currency more than once were Freddie Mac, HSBC Bank USA and Credit-linked & Structured Securities (CLASS). Freddie Mac closed four notes with tenors of five, six and seven years. The amounts were between $13 million and $38.70 million, down considerably from the issuer's two $1 billion notes yesterday. HSBC Bank USA issued three $250,000 one-month notes and a $2 million four-year trade that pays a final coupon of 6%, while CLASS, the SPV set up by Deutsche Bank, issued a $4.19 million note maturing in 2003 and two six-year notes for $1.90 million and $5.71 million. Nestle Holdings was an unusual name in the market, with its $300 million six-year trade that pays a final coupon of 5.125%. The syndicated note had UBS Warburg as lead dealer. Royal Bank of Scotland issued a $10 million 10-year note that pays interest semi-annually and DePfa closed a $13 million two-year trade with a final coupon of 4.242%.

French issuers dominated the US dollar market yesterday, in terms of number of trades. They announced 10 deals between them, out of the 31, and raised just over $106 million. Banque Nationale de Paris and BNP Paribas announced issues ranging from $5 million to $10.3 million and from one to ten years in length. CDC IXIS Capital Markets came to the market with a $50 million note. It pays a final coupon of 7.14% and matures in September 2016. And Credit Lyonnais Finance (Guernsey) did four trades ranging from $110,000 to $10.42 million. They all have terms of less than one year. Only five trades were announced that were not done by financials. Coles Myer did a $20 million five-year note that pays interest quarterly. Toyota Motor Credit Corp announced a $100 million three-year note. And Zenith Investments, the Morgan Stanley-run conduit, did a $5 million 12-year trade.