Search results for

Littlewoods plc, the retail and leisure group that is the UK's largest private company, has completed the first securitisation of home shopping receivables in the UK. RBS Financial Markets arranged the £300m deal through its asset backed commercial paper conduit Loch Ness Ltd.

Taiwan's technology stocks have been hit hard over the past six months, battered by political and sector concerns. But the next three months are set to be the busiest of the year as optimism grows. Mark B Johnson reports.

Financial technology is not just for economic objectives--it can be used for broader strategic and business management goals, too.

In a bid to prevent a huge debt repayment crisis, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) filed an exchange offering and applied for consent solicitation for several international bonds with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week. The included bonds all mature soon and add up $2.3bn of the group's debt. The Singapore registered company proposed the offering to extend the maturities of the deals at the holding company level. The bonds all mature between 2001 and 2003.

John Hancock, the US based insurance and investment company, tapped the Singaporean debt market for a S$150m, five year bond issue this week. The deal was launched via special purpose vehicle (SPV) John Hancock Global Funding II, and obtained a strong market reception, enabling the size to be increased to S$180m.

After weeks of speculation, the Republic of Malaysia entered the international bond markets for the first time this year, re-opening its 2009 global bond issue for $500m last Friday to a good market reception. However, market officials were less impressed with the government's selection process, which involved a direct mandate to sole lead manager Chase Securities, without a beauty parade or tender process, and no syndicate group.

Representatives of the government of the People's Republic of China will be under close market scrutiny as they head to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meeting in Prague this week. Speculation has been growing that a potential $1bn 10 year deal from the republic is in the offing, with JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs closest to the transaction.

Cable & Wireless (C&W) made a tough decision on Wednesday in opting to dispose of a block of 4.9% of Pacific Century CyberWorks (PCCW) in an accelerated bookbuild transaction handled by Merrill Lynch. The disposal pushed PCCW and the Hong Kong market lower, despite the removal of the immediate stock overhang.

International Business Machines (IBM) tapped the yen denominated market for a fourth time this year with a ¥50bn 10 year bond issue this week. The bond had a longer maturity compared to previous deals to appeal to a different investor base. Merrill Lynch and Tokyo-Mitsubishi Securities were lead managers for the deal, which priced at par, and provides a coupon of 2.4%. The two lead managers sold ¥23.5bn each, leaving ¥3bn to be split between co-managers Bear Stearns, Daiwa SBCM, IBJ Securities, Nikko Salomon Smith Barney and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.

Japan Bankers in Tokyo could not confirm Japanese newspaper reports this week that Nippon Telegraph & Telephone wants to tap the global markets for as much as $3.5bn to partly finance the recent purchase of a US internet company.

Chad ABN Amro (joint books, documentation, technical, insurance and agent bank), Crédit Agricole Indosuez (Coface bank) and IFC (joint books) are arranging some $600m of debt financing for the $3.5bn Chad/Cameroon oil pipeline project.

* Artesia Overseas Ltd Guarantor: Artesia Banking Corp