Search results for

NOMURA'S groundbreaking principal finance group is in the midst of a shake up which could see up to 20 of its 70 staff depart, Euroweek has learnt. "We have been number one for a couple of years now," said a Nomura spokesman, "But it's not enough to be complacent."

UBS IS IN the final stages of preparing its second securitisation for UK buses to trains company Stagecoach. The £265m deal is backed by lease revenues from trains to be acquired by Porterbrook, the rolling stock company Stagecoach bought in 1996. That acquisition was financed with Rolling Stock Finance 1 and 2 - simultaneous deals totalling £545m, lead managed by UBS in October 1996. Whereas Rolling Stock Finance 1 parcelled government guaranteed leases, UBS entered territory with RSF 2, which was backed by unguaranteed leases.

UK RAIL operator Virgin Rail Group has invited bids to finance its £850m acquisition of new rolling stock. Last month Virgin named preferred bidders for design, build and maintain contracts for new high tech rolling stock to be used on its West Coast Main Line and Cross Country franchises.

A flexi-cap gives the holder the right to cap some but not all the period rates at a specified strike level over a given time span.

THE Kingdom of Thailand has raised to $4.5bn the amount of funds it intends to raise offshore during 1998, up from the $3bn it had pencilled in as late as last week. The 50% increase in the target reflects the inclusion of an overseas issuance programme for the Bank of Thailand's Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF), now under the Ministry of Finance's umbrella.

* Credit Suisse First Boston has appointed a new head of Asian debt syndication following the relocation of Chris Tuffey back to London. Alistair Moss, formerly the bank's head of fixed income in New Zealand, has moved to Tokyo where he has been appointed as a director reporting to global syndicate head Simon Meadows. Tuffey, who has been based in Asia for the past 41/2 years and worked for CSFB for 12 years, will take up a new position on the London syndicate desk from May 5. Regarded as one of the most forthright and down-to-earth participants of the Asian debt markets, Tuffey said that his most lasting memory and proudest achievement will be of the bank's success with a $750m offering for Indonesia's PT Pindo Deli last year.

TELSTRA Corp launched a highly successful benchmark DM1bn euro-fungible issue yesterday (Thursday) in a bid to position the Australian telecoms credit at the heart of the emerging euro currency sector, ahead of its formal introduction next January. Launched one day ahead of market expectations on the back of strong institutional demand by bookrunner Deutsche Morgan Grenfell and joint lead Credit Suisse First Boston, the 10 year deal was priced at 99.472 with a coupon of 5.125% to yield 34bp over the 5.25% January 2008 Bund.

SOLE bookrunner Merrill Lynch will next week begin roadshows for its $175m convertible bond for China Petrochemical Development, for which Core Pacific Yamaichi is joint lead manager. The deal, which will have a $25m greenshoe, is expected to have a 10 year maturity, an issue price of par and an annual coupon of between 1% and 1.5%.

FIL-ESTATE Land, the Philippine property developer, is preparing to launch a $40m convertible bond that is likely to be purchased in its entirety by a Morgan Stanley Dean Witter unit. The transaction will have a seven year maturity and will be convertible into local shares giving on conversion a 15% stake to the purchaser, which is expected to be either MSDW's asset management arm or the investment bank itself.

GOLDMAN Sachs is preparing a $250m convertible bond for Asia Pulp & Paper, confirming many analysts' belief that the company would exploit the 75% rise in its share price over the past three months by issuing new shares or equity linked instruments. Bankers expect the terms of the deal will be aggressive. The coupon is expected to be between 3% and 5%, the conversion premium will be between 10% and 20% and the redemption premium between 500bp and 600bp over Treasuries. "That is punchy, although the equity story seems to support the terms - devaluation has benefited the company."

THE FIRST convertible bond from Thailand since the Asian crisis will be launched next month, potentially benefiting from the success of recent straight equity issues from the country. Salomon Smith Barney and Paribas have been mandated as joint bookrunners for the $100m CB from International Finance Corporation of Thailand, which is 30% owned by the government and finances private sector industrial investment. The deal is in due diligence and "the earliest the deal could be completed is mid-May," said one analyst.

THE expected rush of Korean borrowers into the international debt markets immediately behind last week's groundbreaking $4bn sovereign global bond looks unlikely to materialise for at least a couple of weeks as potential issuers wait to see where spreads stabilise. The strong secondary market performance of the Republic of Korea's twin tranche global has gratified and disillusioned in equal measure; with investors reaping substantial gains and highly vocal sections of Korea's domestic press berating the government for setting an unnecessarily high benchmark.