Search results for

ABN AMRO and Merrill Lynch will launch a $130m convertible bond for China Merchants Holdings as early as next week to fund the red chip's recent acquisitions on the mainland. The five year issue has been extensively pre-marketed this week with talk of a coupon range of 6% to 7% and a conversion premium range of between 10% and 20%. There will be a three year hard no call provision on the deal, for which a size range of between $100m and $200m has been mooted at various points during the week.

SIAM COMMERCIAL Bank (SCB) began roadshows this week to raise up to $875m in non-government purchased new equity with a simple message for investors: "This is an honest bank and our books are open for all to see." In an unprecedented move the 300-page prospectus includes an independent auditors report focusing on key issues such as collateralisation and non-performing loan (NPL) rates, worries over which have proved such a hindrance in the past.

THE FINAL step towards a full recovery in the Latin new issue market arrived this week when Multicanal, the Argentine cable TV company, became the first sub-investment grade Latin corporate to issue unguaranteed US dollar denominated bonds. The 10 year/put five deal, led by CSFB and BankBoston (joint books) was originally launched at $100m, but demand was such that it was increased to $175m and still traded up to 101.75 from a fixed reoffer price of 99.553.

THE PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) posed a new test of investor tolerance for Asia's leading corporate credits this week with the launch of the company's first public bond offering in two years. Long regarded as the region's benchmark emerging market borrower, the high spread paid by the Ba2/BB+ rated PLDT for its deal on a historical basis elicited a mixed response from market players.

MERRILL Lynch and Hyundai Securities will price Shinhan Bank's $350m GDR sale at the end of today (Friday) with early indications pointing to the deal being fully covered. Although a strategic investor is now known not to be involved in the deal, bankers said that Merrill is likely to have a large anchor client to have been confident enough to have roadshowed the deal over the Easter break. Providing a 15% greenshoe is exercised, the deal will raise the $400m the bank believes is necessary for it to reach capital adequacy targets.

TOKYO Sowa Bank has postponed the ¥30bn bond that was to have been the first securitisation of Japanese residential mortgages. Bear Stearns had begun marketing the deal in February, but was unable to place all the bonds before investors started to close their books for the financial year end on March 31.

HITACHI Leasing Co, the oldest leasing company in Japan affiliated to a manufacturer, became the newest entrant to the country's asset backed market this week, with a ¥34.5bn domestic deal lead managed by IBJ Securities. HL Asset Funding Corp Series 1 is backed by some 2,335 equipment leases extended to 786 Japanese companies, worth a total of ¥41bn. IBJ split the senior portion, rated Aaa by Moody's, into 10 hard bullet tranches, maturing every six months from October 1999 to April 2004. (See bonds section for full details.)

THE FORTHCOMING global bond offering by the Korea Development Bank (KDB) has been well received by investors in Asia and Europe as presentations move across to their final leg in the US. With pricing scheduled for next Thursday, the full syndicate of around 10 banks will be made public by lead managers JP Morgan and Chase Manhattan on Monday. Bankers said that price and maturity guidance for the roughly $1bn deal will also be released at the same time, with details deliberately kept vague at the start of the roadshow programme.

South Africa Standard Bank London has signed the $55m three year term loan for LTA International.

4937

THE REPUBLIC of Argentina might issue a new 30 year dollar bond if it finds enough investor interest for longer duration bonds, according to director of public credit Federico Molina. Molina said the government, now that it has raised more than $4bn internationally, would approach the dollar markets opportunistically. "We may increase the 10 year [dollar global bond] or create a new 30 year bond if we feel that the market is asking for that," he said.

THE REPUBLIC of Argentina moved quickly this week to take advantage of a sudden surge of European investor demand for Latin American names by offering a Eu450m seven year deal, the biggest euro denominated offering this year by a Latin issuer. The transaction, led by CSFB and Deutsche Bank, was also the most successful Latin deal in the new currency this year, having been increased from an original Eu250m due to a barrage of retail demand for high yielding euro paper, and increased confidence in the Latin markets in general.