As expected, pricing of a $500 million 144a debut by the Chinese EP exploration production giant came at the tight end of expectations, with a huge order book from the Mainland underpinning global expectations of a highly successful deal.
The Chinese banks alone are said to have accounted for about $1 billion of demand and as a result of minimal allocations, will almost certainly provide strong secondary support for the 10-year deal, which may yet tighten further from its 163bp issue price. The greatest difficulty for lead managers Credit Suisse First Boston and Merrill Lynch, therefore, was to how to avoid losing price sensitive US investors in the primary market, while making sure they...
