Best borrower awards 2007

Issuers from countries that were rightly defined as emerging markets are engaging with the capital markets at a level of sophistication more akin to fully developed geographies. A particularly breathtaking example was the $18 billion loan and refinancing arranged for Companhia Vale do Rio Doce’s takeover of Inco. And ICICI Bank’s $5 billion fundraising illustrates not just the increasing importance but also the potential of India in the capital markets. In Russia, Gallery Media offered investors in the country’s credit some much-needed diversification away from the usual fare of bank, energy or commodity sectors.

From more mature regions there was the impressive use of structured finance by CDO manager Babson Capital, US Bancorp’s aggressive use of US hybrid technological advances to conduct an impressive wholesale recapitalization of its balance sheet and Linde’s Group’s nifty refinancing of its £12 billion BOC acquisition.