The best deals of the last twelve months are a diverse bunch. They include Euroequities, property-linked securities, convertible bonds and even good old-fashioned syndicated loans. None is particularly flashy or innovative but they share certain features which guarantee success: all hit an unexplored niche in the market, all pleased both borrower and investors, and all earned substantial profits and prestige for their creators.
The key is rooting out unexploited demand in the market. Barclays' long Euro-sterling bond did it. So did Canada's 80 billion Eurobond, the first sizeable yen bond by a prime borrower. And Electrolux's international equity offering sniffed out legal loopholes which allowed it to tap unsatisfied demand for foreign shares in Italy and Spain.
Euromoney makes no apology for excluding deals that were only one-sidedly beneficial. BASF's bond-plus-equity warrant issue, for example, shot to 123 in a day. Great for the lead manager and quick-reacting investors; lousy...
