Private paper’s allure wins European hearts

European corporates are making the most of burgeoning demand in the US private placement market. This raises the profile of the asset class but is hampering the development of an equivalent market in Europe and might be prompting banks to oversell issuers.

ARE YOU A European corporate? Do you need to borrow money? Why not issue illiquid paper with a stack of bondholder-friendly provisions to an investor base thousands of miles away? In short, why not do a US private placement?

That apparently unlikely sales pitch has convinced a growing number of issuers in the past 18 months. The total US private placement market was worth just under $29 billion in 2002. Issuance in 2003 was nearly $46 billion – up 59%.

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