Fortis share price
French conglomerate Suez had another busy month in
the equity markets as it took advantage of a rally in the
insurance sector to dispose of almost all its holdings in
Fortis, the Belgian/Dutch bancassurer. The innovative
disposal, managed by UBS, took the form of a combined
mandatory exchangeable and block trade. It achieved a number
of firsts and broke a number of records.
The e1.19 billion three-year mandatory exchangeable
into 75 million Fortis shares is the second largest mandatory
exchangeable in Europe ever, after the Allianz/Miles deal in
December 2000, also managed by UBS. It was fully underwritten
at an issue price of e15.30 and offered a coupon of 4.5% and
an exchange premium of 31%.
The mandatory was structured with two innovative features. It
has a rare issuer call option that will allow Suez to force an
early exchange if the...
