HONG KONG
The Deal: Cathay Pacific’s HK$8.2bn acquisition of Dragonair
ABN AMRO was sole financial adviser to Cathay Pacific and Swire Pacific; ING provided advice to independent directors and shareholders of Cathay; Merrill Lynch and China International Capital advised Air China and CNAC, while BNP Paribas advised Air China’s board; Morgan Stanley advised CITIC; and Merrill Lynch and Citi advised CNAC on privatisation issues.
The acquisition was a highly complex transaction. It was structured over a period of three years with negotiations held between the five major listed companies involved: Cathay Pacific, its main shareholder Swire Pacific, the two vendors Air China and CNAC, and CITIC Pacific as shareholder of Dragonair.
HUNGARY
The Deal: Republic of Hungary’s £500m bond due 2016
Barclays Bank, Deutsche Bank and Lehman Brothers were bookrunners and lead managers.
Against a volatile gilt market and the widening of spreads across most of the central European euro-denominated sovereign curves, the transaction was successfully launched and achieved a high quality, oversubscribed order book. The majority of the bonds went to sterling investors in the UK and Ireland. The bond performed well in the days following the transaction, when the market was still volatile, and ultimately showed the country’s commitment to capital market investors by providing depth into their yield curve.
