Search results for

The book for the £825m IPO of executive recruitment firm Michael Page is almost covered, with three days of bookbuilding to go. Some investors are holding out to see how the markets develop, and some still need convincing that the company is not overexposed to vulnerable economies, but good accounts keep placing orders. The company has two teams, one in the US and one in Europe, and is waiting to see how much demand the US team can attract. "It is going to come down to the last one or two days," said a banker close to the deal.

Oman The sub-underwriting phase of the syndication of the $348.6m project financing for the Barka Independent Water and Power Project has been successfully wrapped up by lead arrangers ANZ Investment Bank and ABC, although the leads are waiting to hear back from one further bank.

* Former JP Morgan Securities' loans syndication chief Michael Mauer has gone to Salomon Smith Barney to head the US loans syndicate, reporting to Chad Leat, global head of loans. It is a new position. At JP Morgan, Mauer covered loan syndication for the US and Latin America.

The equity markets put participants through yet more pain this week, as stock prices across the globe reacted viciously to the US Federal Reserve's decision to lower interest rates by 50bp. The Nasdaq fell 4.8% on Tuesday, when the announcement was made, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 2.4%. The bad sentiment continued throughout the week, with the FTSE 100 and the Dax 30 indices both losing more than 4% yesterday (Thursday).

On March 21 2001, MTNWeek hosted its Awards 2001 dinner in the Hyatt Carlton Tower in Knightsbridge. A detailed description of the decisions that were made and the imbibing that followed will be available later today. Best new Euro-MTN borrower 2001: Kommunalbanken Best Euro-MTN borrower 2001: Svensk Exportkredit Best new Euro-CP borrower 2001: Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank Most enterprising Euro-MTN house 2001: Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Most enterprising Euro-CP house 2001: Goldman Sachs Best IPA for Euro-MTNs 2001: Deutsche Bank Best IPA for Euro-CPs 2001: Citibank Best Euro-CP house 2001: Deutsche Bank Best Euro-MTN house 2001: Merrill Lynch Star of the Leak table 2001: Gavin Eddy

Croatia The IMF has officially approved a $255m standby credit for the Republic of Croatia.

Finland Metsa-Serla, the Finnish pulp and paper company, is attracting some good interest for its Eu300m equity issue, led by Schroder Salomon Smith Barney. There are six or seven investors already in the book with another 10 days of bookbuilding to go. There has been a lot of interest from the UK and US.

UK mortgage bank Northern Rock launched its fourth and largest securitisation last Friday, with a £1.5bn deal that included global bonds for the first time. Lead managed by Schroder Salomon Smith Barney, the transaction blew out as investors starved of European asset backed paper snapped up bonds from an issuer that has won a widespread following in the last two years.

* GMAC International Finance BV Guarantor: General Motors Acceptance Corp

The equity markets put participants through yet more pain this week, as stock prices across the globe reacted viciously to the US Federal Reserve's decision to lower interest rates by 50bp. The Nasdaq fell 4.8% on Tuesday, when the announcement was made, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 2.4%. The bad sentiment continued throughout the week, with the FTSE 100 and the Dax 30 indices both losing more than 4% yesterday (Thursday).

* Allgemeine Hypothekenbank AG Rating: Aa2/AAA/AA+

Wind turbine manufacturer Nordex launched what could be the Neuer Markt's biggest IPO of 2001 into hideous market conditions this week. The deal will struggle to swim upstream as stock prices on the high growth exchange flow steadily down. Bookbuilding for the Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein led issue began on Tuesday and will close on March 30. By yesterday (Thursday) the Nemax 50 index had reached another all-time low of 1,422.85. "There is no buying interest at all," said a Neuer Markt fund manager in Frankfurt.