Santander’s Italian disposal is the Real deal
Nigeria clears the decks
Big bet pays off for Fortis
GCA reaches out to buy US peer
Maxis maxes out
Mexico motors on local-currency deal
Bovespa floats on the wave it made
AstraZeneca’s refinancing of its acquisition of US biotechnology firm MedImmune was one of the defining moments of the debt capital markets in 2007. This is in no small part because of the way in which the firm’s management coped with the stark transformation of investor sentiment from the takeover deal’s announcement, in April, to when AstraZeneca went to the bond markets to refinance it in September. Financial markets were still in excellent condition in April – concerns over sub-prime debt exposure had not rocked financial markets as they did at the height of summer. When the deal was unveiled, AstraZeneca was relatively flush with cash and therefore an infrequent user of the bond markets....
