Issuer: Republic of Lebanon
Amount: $712 million
Type of issue: sovereign Eurobond
Date: September 22
Bookrunners: Credit Suisse First Boston, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
Lebanon has confounded the sceptics by successfully raising more than $700 million in Eurobonds denominated in dollars and euros and, for the first time, persuading American investors to buy significant amounts of paper.
But it was a hard sell for Lebanese finance minister George Corm and the lead managers, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Credit Suisse First Boston. They mounted a high-profile road show round European and American financial centres in an attempt to widen the investor base for the bonds, which have traditionally been bought by local banks and investors. This has been a partial success, with almost a quarter of the dollar bonds sold to American investors. They were persuaded to accept a lower return than for a comparably-rated country by the argument...
