Country Winners A-G

ALBANIA
The Deal: Bankers Petroleum Albania’s $20m term loan facility RZB Group was the lender.
RZB Group arranged the largest loan ever provided by a commercial bank to a corporate borrower in Albania, which will encourage the attraction of foreign direct investment to the country. The financing will be used for capital investment purposes and will further develop the extraction of heavy crude oil from the Patos-Mariza oil field in southern Albania, one of the largest onshore heavy oil fields in Europe.

ANGOLA
The Deal: Sonagol Sinopec International’s $1.4bn term loan facility
Standard Chartered Bank and Calyon were joint financial advisers and mandated leader arrangers. Other arrangers were China Development Bank, The Export-Import Bank of China, China Construction Bank, BNP Paribas, ING, NatIxis, Agricultural Bank of China, Bayerische Landesbank, KBC, Bank of China and Société Générale.
The $1.4bn package to finance Sonangol Sinopec International’s share of development of the Block 18 offshore oil fields was the first project financing of an asset in Angola and was done without political risk insurance cover. The company is a joint venture between China’s Sinopec (55%) and Angola’s Sonangol (45%). Despite a challenging deal structure the transaction was heavily over-subscribed and achieved low pricing.
Sinopec’s role as a major shareholder attracted significant commitments from Chinese banks, making the transaction one of the largest Chinese investments into west Africa. That said, the mix of Chinese and international lenders threw up challenges, such as rights between creditors, that the arrangers had to negotiate deftly.

ARGENTINA
The Deal: Fideicomiso Financiero Gas I project’s 588m pesos financing
Banco de Galicia y Buenos Aires was trustee, co-structuring agent, sole placement agent and bookrunner for the transaction. Banco de la Nación Argentina provided credit support while Nación Fideicomisos (part of Banco de la Nación Argentina) was the structuring agent.
This transaction is just what Argentina needed to prove to the international finance community that the country has recovered from the 2002 crisis and that local infrastructure projects can be financed. The deal, arranged by the ministry of federal planning, public investment and services, is the first infrastructure project financed through a capital market transaction since then. The local currency-denominated deal raised more than P$588m ($190.4m) through an eight-year debt security issued by a financial trust set up for the project.

AUSTRALIA
The Deal: Telstra’s A$15.5bn secondary public offering
ABN AMRO Rothschild, Goldman Sachs and UBS were joint global co-ordinators while Citi, Credit Suisse, Daiwa Securities SMBC, JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley were co-lead managers.
The Australian government’s sell-down of Telstra Corporation’s shares was an important milestone for the country. It had to overcome several challenges, including political issues: the general public resistance to privatisations, regulatory uncertainty and the company’s transformation plan, which was announced prior to the sale. The deal was spectacular in size, too, and is larger than Telstra’s previous offering.

AUSTRIA
The Deal: OeKB’s €1.5bn 3.875% bond due 2016
Deutsche Bank and UBS were joint lead managers; Citi, Goldman Sachs, Nomura, Credit Suisse, BNP Paribas and JPMorgan acted as co-lead managers.
This deal was an inaugural issue on the euro market for Oesterreichische Kontrollbank (OeKB), Austria’s export credit agency. The order book reached the €1bn mark on the first day of marketing and attracted a broad range of high quality investors. Particularly strong interest came from the UK and Asia, as well as from the central bank community.

AZERBAIJAN
The Deal: ACG’s $750m financing facility  
BNP Paribas was sole mandated lead arranger. The financing for the development of the Azeri, Chirag and Gunashli oil fields was the first Azerbaijani deal brought to the market without the backing of a state guarantee or an export credit agency. Prior to the transaction, Azerbaijan’s capital needs related to the ACG project were carried by other oil companies involved in the project at a substantially higher cost. The transaction structure was innovative and used a mix of project finance, reserve-based lending and pure commodity structure finance mechanisms.

BAHRAIN
The Deal: Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait’s $500m floating rate deposit note due 2011
HSBC acted as joint bookrunner, and priced and launched BBK’s debut public issue in the international debt capital markets. Citi was the other joint bookrunner.
This inaugural transaction under Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait’s (BBK) Euro Medium Term Deposit Note Programme was the largest bond issue by a Bahraini bank and the largest by a Middle Eastern bank rated in the BBB range. BBK achieved competitive pricing and strong regional investor diversification: more than half the final order book was out of Europe, and final allocations were 51% Europe, 16% Asia and 33% Middle East. A strong final order book stood at about $700m from 64 individual investors.

BELGIUM
The Deal. Solvay’s E500m deeply subordinated bonds due 2104
BNP Paribas was bookrunner with Deutsche Bank and Citi.
This was an interesting deal, skillfully executed and with a good price in a highly volatile market. It pays a 6.375% coupon annually for the first 10 years and a three-month Euribor + 335 basis points thereafter. It attracted bids from more than 100 investors for three times the issue amount. The hybrid issue allows pharmaceutical company Solvay to strengthen its balance sheet after the acquisition of Fournier Pharma. The deal also improves the company’s liquidity position by lengthening its debt maturity profile ahead of a €700m bond that matured later in 2006.

BERMUDA
The Deal: Bermuda Aviation Services’ Bermuda $15.8m rights offering
Butterfield Bank acted as issue sponsor, adviser and sole underwriter.
The deal signals the reopening of the equity markets in Bermuda after a 10-year period, in a local market characterised by low trading volumes and low issuance activity. The rights offering is significant for the company, too. It was supported by 80% of shareholders and flawlessly met Bermuda Aviation Services’ requirements to eliminate indebtedness, buy back stock from minority shareholders and provide funds for future growth.

BOLIVIA
The Deal. Banco Mercantil’s $25.8m acquisition of Banco Santa Cruz
In-house advisers were used in the transaction.
Despite Bolivia’s challenging social and political situation, Banco Mercantil and Banco Santa Cruz embarked on a deal that created the largest bank in the country, with $976m in assets and 26.41% of the deposits market. It was the first time that large and healthy Bolivian banks have come together and the transaction’s significance also lies in the fact that both banks have a long history in the market.

BULGARIA
The Deal: First Investment Bank’s €21m 11.625% upper Tier 2 perpetual Eurobond
Dresdner Kleinwort was lead manager and bookrunner.
The Eurobond was a groundbreaking transaction for Bulgaria and among the first such transactions in eastern Europe. First Investment Bank is one of the two banks in Bulgaria to have completed an international capital market transaction and the only one to issue upper Tier 2 hybrid capital. The issue strengthened the bank’s capital base, enabling it to enhance its activities both in Bulgaria and in the region.

CANADA
The Deal: Barrick Gold’s $10.3bn acquisition of Placer Dome
Merrill Lynch and RBC Dominion Securities were joint financial advisers to Barrick Gold; Placer Dome was advised by CIBC World Markets, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Goldman Sachs.
It was the sound strategy of Barrick Gold that transformed the initially hostile bid to acquire Place Dome into a successful deal that created the world’s largest global mining company. The deal has realised unrivalled operational synergies, given the proximity of both company’s projects. The combined company has an impressive development pipeline and ranks as the world’s largest gold producer.

CHILE
The Deal: VTR GlobalCom’s $725m senior secured credit facilities
BNP Paribas, Citi, Grupo Santander and TD Securities were lead arrangers and bookrunners.
This innovative transaction for VTR Globalcom breaks new ground in Chile and Latin America in the way that transactions were structured, priced and distributed. The transaction combined local syndication, offshore distribution to banks and institutional investors and derivatives. More than 175 banks and other financial institutions in the US, Europe and Latin America were involved. The deal was the first leveraged, sub-investment grade loan structured in Chile.

COLOMBIA
The Deal: Republic of Colombia’s repurchase offer and $1bn 7.75% bonds due 2037
Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch were joint lead managers.
The deal opened a new line of financing for the Republic of Colombia to maintain a liquid US dollar curve by issuing the 31-year bond. It financed the repurchase of some existing bonds, terming out the long-dated debt obligations and retiring inefficiently priced bonds, and provided funds for the country’s 2007 budgetary needs. The success of the deal was demonstrated by both the new issuance and the repurchase offer being oversubscribed two times.

COSTA RICA
The Deal: Hidroenergía del General’s $100m fixed rate loan
RBTT Merchant Bank was lead and sole arranger.
The interesting structure of the transaction offered Hidroenergía del General the debt required for leveraging the investment in the construction and start-up of the Rio General hydroelectric power plant, a build, operate and transfer project financing scheme. The aggressive structure designed by RBTT Merchant Bank provided a much-needed, timely financing and an exposure to international capital markets.

CROATIA
The Deal: Barr Pharmaceuticals’ $2.5bn acquisition of Pliva
Deutsche Bank was sole financial adviser to Pliva and Bank of America was sole financial adviser to Barr; Bank of America and Credit Suisse were joint lead arrangers on the acquisition financing facility.
The pharmaceutical sector gave eastern Europe its largest M&A deal of 2006. The acquisition of Croatian Pliva by Barr Pharmaceuticals of the US was the country’s largest and also the largest generic pharmaceutical transaction of the year, creating the third largest generic company worldwide. The deal gives great expansion opportunities to Barr, both in terms of products and regional coverage, and marks a rare European acquisition by a US company.

CYPRUS
The Deal: Cyprus Airports’ €612.5m senior and mezzanine facilities for the development of Larnaca and Pafos airports
ING, Royal Bank of Scotland, Société Générale and WestLB were the four lead arrangers.
The project marks the first ever public-private enterprise to be undertaken in the country and is part of the government’s strategy to develop the tourist industry in Cyprus. The capital cost of the expansion project is more than €500m. The airports will be managed by Hermes Airports under a 25-year concession granted by the Cypriot government. The project has been carefully structured, both financially and contractually, to mitigate traffic risk from shock events and from competing airports.

CZECH REPUBLIC
The Deal: CEZ’s €500m 4.125% bond due 2013
Deutsche Bank and Société Générale were bookrunners.
The bond for CEZ, Czech Republic’s main electricity generating company, brought great interest from investors. It closed an order book made up of more than 120 investors from 20 countries, and that was more than four times oversubscribed. The deal was the first bond issue to come out of the Czech Republic and the first corporate issue out of central Europe in 2006.

DENMARK
The Deal: Nordic Telephone Company’s €12.7bn leveraged buyout of TDC, €8.5bn senior financing and €2.05bn high-yield bridge financing
Goldman Sachs advised TDC while Blackstone, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and Enskilda advised Nordic Telephone Company; JPMorgan and Royal Bank of Scotland were joint senior co-ordinators, joint mandated lead arrangers of the senior facility and joint bookrunners of the high yield bond; Danske Bank, DnB Nor and Nordea were mandated lead arrangers of the senior facility. Credit Suisse, Barclays Capital and Deutsche Bank were joint bookrunners of the high yield bond.
Nordic Telephone Company, owned by Apax, Blackstone, KKR, Permira and Providence, struck Europe’s largest buyout deal and a buyout financing with the largest equity commitment by a financial sponsor in Europe at that time.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
The Deal: Cap Cana’s $250m 9.625% senior secured notes due 2013
Bear Stearns was sole bookrunner.
Cap Cana’s deal breaks ground both for its size (it is the largest corporate bond in the Dominican Republic) and for its highly innovative structure, which created a new financing mechanism for real estate developers and revolutionised construction financing in Latin America. New asset classes were created (asset-backed construction bonds and guarantee trust secured bonds) and versatile mechanisms adapt to the various development phases of the Cap Cana luxury resort. The notes offering reached beyond the traditional investor base for Latin American transactions and included sophisticated asset-backed and real estate investors.

EGYPT
The Deal: Egyptian Arab Land Bank’s $87m securitisation
Commercial International Bank and HSBC Egypt acted as joint lead financial advisers and lead arrangers.
The transaction was the second and largest securitisation in the Egyptian capital market, and the first to capitalise on the booming real estate sector and its financing by creating a real estate asset pool to back the bonds. The structure was set up to maintain the bank’s loan portfolio on its books while assigning all rights under its segregated real estate loan portfolio to bondholders. Commercial International Bank has structured the first three asset-backed securitisation deals since the inception of the securitisation law.

EL SALVADOR
The Deal: Telemovil El Salvador’s $200m syndicated senior secured term loan facility
ABN AMRO, Citi and Standard Bank were joint mandated lead arrangers and joint bookrunners.
When Salvador’s top mobile telecoms operator, Telemovil El Salvador, wanted to distance itself further from the competition by acquiring Colombia Movil, the third-ranking mobile operator in Colombia, financing was needed. This good-sized loan facility responded not only to Telemovil El Salvador’s growth requirements, but also provided a timely means to refinance existing credit facilities and fund general requirements. The three mandated lead arrangers generated a positive response from the market, with significant oversubscriptions and more than $325m in commitments.

FINLAND
The Deal: Danske Bank’s €4.05bn acquisition of Sampo Bank
Morgan Stanley and Danske Markets Corporate Finance advised Danske Bank and JPMorgan advised Sampo Bank.
The deal creates a strong banking group in the Nordic region, giving Danske Bank access to the fast-growing Baltic market, where the Finnish bank has a meaningful presence in the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian markets. Sampo Bank has a strong presence in its domestic retail and corporate banking markets as well as in asset management.

FRANCE

The Deal: Groupe Banque Populaire and Groupe Caisse d’Epargne’s €20bn merger of assets to create NatIxis
Bucéphale Finance, Lazard and Merrill Lynch advised Groupe Caisse d’Espargne; Citi, Philippe Villin Conseil and Rothschild advised Groupe Banque Populaire.
The complex, highly negotiated deal brought together the corporate and investment banking businesses of Group Banque Populaire (namely Natexis Banques Populaires) and most of the assets of Caisse Nationale des Caisses d’Epargne (including the Ixis group). The deal has created a leader in corporate and investment banking and specialised banking services. The combination of two of the most important retail networks in France has also given NatIxis powerful distribution capabilities.

GERMANY
The Deal: Linde’s dual-tranche €700m 7.375% and £250m 8.125% hybrid 60NC10
Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley provided financial advice while Barclays Capital, Citi, Dresdner Kleinwort and UBS were mandated lead arrangers. BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, HSBC, HVB, Royal Bank of Scotland and Société Général were co-lead managers. Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley were global co-ordinators on the capital increase.
The dual-tranche hybrid offering was the first from a European corporate. The innovative financing structure includes the first British sterling hybrid from a corporate issuer ever done, unlocking a new market for this instrument.

GHANA
The Deal: African Development Bank’s 414bn cedi fixed-rate notes due 2008
Standard Chartered was sole lead manager and bookrunner.
In October 2006, the African Development Bank (AfDB) sold a two-year fixed rate Eurobond offering worth 414.9bn Ghanaian cedis ($45m), the first supranational borrower to issue in the west African country’s currency. The size of the offering represented a significant increase from the original estimate of $20m-$30m. The bond was priced at par to its 12% coupon. A cross-currency swap was provided to hedge the AfDB’s foreign currency exposure risk – the first cross-currency swap transaction ever to involve cedi. “In the context of local markets, this can be highlighted as a landmark for Ghana,” says Ade Adebajo, director, debt capital markets-Africa at Standard Chartered.

GREECE
The Deal: Omega Navigation Enterprises’ $204m dual-listed IPO
Jefferies acted as global co-ordinator, bookrunner and lead manager; JPMorgan was bookrunner and lead manager; United Overseas Bank was bookrunner.
This was the first dual listing of a shipping company in the US and Singapore, with shares listed on Nasdaq and on the Singapore Stock Exchange. The deal’s success was particularly impressive considering the challenging market environment at the time, in which many of the recent shipping IPOs were trading at less than their IPO price.