Tata Chemicals completed its debut convertible bond issue on Tuesday January 25 raising $150 million from a deal led by Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch. Yet, like so many Asian CBs these days, the transaction ended up being re-priced below par, with the three banks losing practically all of their fees.
Tata's deal appears to mark yet another instance where a borrower pushes for overly ambitious terms fuelled by the aggressive pitches of investment banks jostling to get into each others deals. And the result is always the same - messy execution, no fees for the banks involved and a reputational hit on the part of the borrower, which has...
