Preaching to the converted

It is rare that the interests of investors and issuers coincide exactly, and when they do they have generally been forced to. That is what has happened in the European convertible market. Right now, this halfway-house hybrid does make sense as a defensive outperformer for investors, and a cheap, flexible funding tool for corporates and privatizing governments. Simon Brady reports.

Bookrunners of convertible Eurobond issues,
January-September 1998

Amount ($m)

No. issues

Share (%)

1

Warburg Dillon Read

10,414

23

43.8

2

Goldman Sachs

2,342

6

9.8

3

Morgan Stanley

1,562

8

6.6

4

Deutsche Bank

1,325

3

5.6

5

Merrill Lynch

1,250

8

5.3

6

Credit Suisse First Boston

1,035

5

4.3

7

Paribas

908

2

3.8

8

HSBC

895

3

3.8

9

ABN Amro

705

4

3.0

10

Dresdner Kleinwort Benson

564

2

2.4

 

Others

2,799

23

11.8

 

Total

23,799

87

100.0

Source: Capital Data Bondware

The recent cancellation of a Dfl220 million ($116.8 million) convertible for Van der Moolen Holding came as little surprise. The appetite for equity exposure to independent Dutch securities companies is about the same as that for securities companies elsewhere. However, the news that Belgian glassmaker Glaverbel was also shelving its planned issue shows that market turbulence is seriously affecting even this usually transquil corner of the markets.

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