The Massachusetts-based company announced the acquisition of CMC Materials on December 15 2021. Morgan Stanley provided a sole commitment for an approximately US$5bn financing package to provide certainty for the transaction. With concerns Russia was preparing to invade Ukraine, Morgan Stanley launched the TLB a week earlier than scheduled, holding a lender call on February 16. That kicked off a multi-part financing that also included senior secured notes and senior notes, with the different asp

Normally sponsors first identify their targets and then turn to banks to get the money, but the unprecedented has now long supplanted normality in both global affairs and markets. Amid acute market volatility, heightened illiquidity and investors’ dismay at seeing heavily discounted deals printed in June and July trading down in the secondary market, Lottomatica was effectively asking for war-chest financing. This was a €350m five-year non-call two senior secured note to finance its e

There were so few good opportunities to sell in 2022 that in many cases deals never happened and remain on the block for 2023. Sampo had already executed four sales on its way towards the exit and the seller wasn't put off by the VIX hovering around 30 when it came to market in April. The Finnish insurer was the largest shareholder in the Nordic bank when it sold 4% in November 2020, followed by further sales in 2021 of 4% in May, 1.8% in September and 4% in October. A couple more trades were pl

We have after all just lived through the end of a 30-year bull market in bonds, as central banks around the world adjusted to a new era of inflation by raising interest rates at the fastest pace since the 1980s. The 10-year US Treasury yield, to take the most obvious example, went from 1.521% to 4.338% between January and October. And in the process we have seen the end of quantitative easing in most countries and the start of quantitative tightening in some. We’ve also seen Russia’s

Lenovo’s CB was a shot in the arm for the equity-linked market in the Asia-Pacific region which saw only 11 deals in 2022 and had not seen a deal of over US$100m in four months before Lenovo’s deal. The transaction was launched on August 17 during the holiday season: unusual timing for a sizeable deal. It came to market supported by a better-than-expected quarterly profit announced on August 10, but the company also needed to use its issuance quota approved by China’s National

Prosus was the largest shareholder in Chinese internet giant Tencent with a stake valued in June at US$125bn and this holding provided the means to reduce the NAV discount. The solution was conceptually simple – sell shares in Tencent through an at-the-market programme to fund buybacks at Prosus and Naspers – though execution was complicated with four synchronised steps across continents and exchanges, including Hong Kong where ATMs (also known as dribble-outs) are not established. T

The year started promisingly, with BNP Paribas leading a €250m exchangeable bond into Irish dairy and nutrition business Glanbia in late January. All that followed until September, however, was a €175m CB from BE Semiconductor Industries in March and a €50m tap by France’s Voltalia in July, both away from BNPP. The French bank in May issued a €375m synthetic convertible helping to keep the market alive. Capturing a strong bid for FIG stocks seen during 2022, the non-dil

The most visible dimension of Aa1/AA+ rated Austria’s long-awaited arrival in the green market was May's €4bn inaugural bond. The 2049 deal attracted huge investor demand, more than six times subscribed on over €25bn of orders and achieving a greenium of 2.5bp compared to conventional debt. But other sovereigns have delivered wildly popular inaugural green bonds in recent years. Where Austria stands out is that this formed only part of a deeper reworking of its funding. By the en

At its annual investor day on October 31 the chipmaker outlined plans to spend US$6.5bn through 2027 to expand manufacturing capacity of silicon carbide wafers used in electric vehicles and other electronic devices. The capex plans were well above prior guidance and came with indications that management were exploring options to limit earnings dilution, including the possibility of funding from government and/or a strategic partner. At the time, Wolfspeed was negotiating a US$500m strategic inve

CATL’s successful follow-on highlighted the kind of global interest a top-quality A-share listed company can attract despite challenging market conditions. It also showed China’s equity investment channel for foreign investors could accommodate huge demand, paving the way for more mainland-listed companies to follow. The deal, the largest ever A-share marketed follow-on and the largest follow-on globally in 2022, hit the market in June when global stock markets were weighed down by R

The float is also the country’s largest ever, dwarfing Samsung Life Insurance’s W4.88trn IPO in 2010. The deal drew huge investor interest, set a record IPO subscription rate and traded strongly, encouraging many other South Korean companies such as SoftBank-backed car-sharing services provider Socar and lithium-ion batteries separator maker W-Scope Chungju Plant to accelerate their listing plans. LGES, which was spun off from chemical giant LG Chem, originally planned to wrap up the

UBS led the way in 2022, securing key roles on the biggest capital raisings of the year and showing its strength across a mix of markets and products. Equity fundraising activity in Asia-Pacific tumbled, but there were bright spots. Issuers from China accounted for two-thirds of activity, and A-share markets contributed most of the volume, meaning an onshore presence was critical. UBS picked up US$9.9bn of league table credit through 53 transactions and was the best performing foreign bank, acco

Yet Porsche completed the largest IPO in Europe since 2011 without a hint of a misfire. “The decision by the VW supervisory board to move ahead with the preparation of a potential IPO coincided with the first day of the conflict in Ukraine. Of course we had to monitor the market environment closely to identify the right timing for the transaction. But VW was convinced on the rationale to take the company independent," said Bjoern Scheib, head of investor relations at Porsche. "To successf

Covid had been expected to upend the rankings in EMEA equity capital markets in 2020, as corporates turned to their lenders to raise cash quickly. Yet the US banks that dominate the region barely gave up ground, and the boom in IPOs in 2021 again put the Americans in control. The much-anticipated realignment finally came in 2022 as European activity slowed to a snail’s pace and the Middle East came of age with jumbo deals. HSBC’s long presence in the region gave it a head start on it

The sale, which saw the government diluted to a 40.3% minority ownership, had been in the works since the early 1990s. "We knew it would be a challenge for us to attract new investors because our story was so complex and we were a government-owned entity," said Eletrobras CFO Elvira Presta. "I personally conducted over 300 one-on-one meetings to educate investors about our new business model. "On some days, there were seven meetings." Shares were sold by Eletrobras and Brazil's development bank