Korea prices $3 billion global bond

South Korea discovered yesterday that giving a little can elicit unexpected rewards. By conceding on pricing, it managed to raise one-and-half times more cash than it initially intended.

Korea raised $3 billion with an issue of senior, fixed-rate, SEC-registered, dual-tranche global notes, priced bang in the middle of the early price guidance. The issue was split equally, with $1.5 billion each for the five- and 10-year tranches. The republic had originally planned for a $2 billion issue, so it must have been pleasantly surprised.

And that's despite mandating half-a-dozen banks to arrange its first bond deal since November 2006. Korea's decision provoked the inevitable competition and -- well -- inter-firm back-stabbing, bitching and concomitant...