Biggest Dividend

posted by Chris Kaufman on Jul 31

Now that the dark days of TARP force-feedings, congressional hearings and ill-conceived mergers are behind it, Bank of America is getting back to the business of expanding in the world’s most enduring pot of fabled gold, China. The bank sent a memo around saying it had rehired a China hand to head its corporate finance business there.

Wang Bing, who worked for Merrill Lynch between 2004 and 2008 in various management roles, including dealmaking in China, is back with Bank of America-Merrill Lynch as a managing director, according to the memo. On Thursday, we reported that Bank of America plans to set up a wholly owned subsidiary in China to bolster its corporate, investment banking and wealth management businesses.

In May, Bank of America sold $7.3 billion worth of shares in China Construction Bank. It needed the cash, so turning its back on such a long-term position made sense at the time. The news this week is hardly as dramatic, in scope or in value, but it is significant. If nothing else, it shows the bank trying to get back to the business of anticipating global growth. It will be interesting to see if the bank is any more effective at growing in China as a local business rather than as a partner with big, Beijing-favored China Construction Bank.

posted by Quentin Webb on Jul 31

It would be hard to describe July as a banner month for mergers and acquisitions.

Friday’s data from Thomson Reuters shows it was the first month since Sept. 2004 where announced deals totalled less than $100 billion, and the first month in almost six years without a single $5 billion-plus deal. But top executives are starting to talk M&A again, and bankers are starting to lay the groundwork for future deals. As Michael Erman and I wrote earlier:

“Bankers are pointing to early signs of a pick-up in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), with stronger stocks and easier credit conditions helping company bosses regain the confidence to do deals.

“Global announced M&A totaled $968 billion in January to June — little more than 40 percent of pre-crisis volumes in 2007 — and financiers do not expect a sudden return to the hectic dealmaking of the boom years.

“But they say an August holiday lull could be followed by an upswing toward the end of the year, based on more active discussions with clients and in some cases growing pipelines of future deals.”

Full story here. For full details of Deloitte’s recent CFO survey, which we referred to in our piece, click here.

posted by Quentin Webb on Jul 31

Highlights and low points — syndicated loans, for example, at their lowest since 1993 — from the July Thomson Reuters Investment Banking Snapshots:

DEBT CAPITAL MARKETS

Asia Pacific & Chinese Issuers Reached New Corporate Bonds High in July - Asia Pacific issuers raised a record US$41bn in July, up 11% from June 09 (US$43.3bn) and double the level of July 2008 (US$24.1bn). Chinese issuers accounted for 49% of the regions’ activity with a record US$23.4bn raised, up 3% from June 09 (US$22.7bn) and up 218% from July 08 (7.4bn). Financials (US$16.2bn, 70%) and Materials (US$4.7bn, 20%) were the main sectors driving the surge in China.

European High Yield Bonds Hit 2 Year High - Global issuance of high yield bonds reached US$12.3bn in July 09, down 27% from June 09 (US$16.7bn) but up 270% from July 08 (US$3.3bn). This marked the 3rd highest level of activity for a month of July on record and the best since 2003 (US$18.6bn). European issuers accounted for 44% of total with US$5.4bn raised, the highest monthly volume since June 2007. European activity consisted of 2 issues, Wind Acquisition Finance (US$3.7bn), the 2nd largest HY bond of the year globally and the 2nd largest European bond ever issued after NXP Semiconductor (US$5.95bn, 2006) and Fiat Finance & Trade ($US$1.8bn).

EQUITY CAPITAL MARKETS

Global ECM Up 22% in July as IPO Reached 14 Month High - Global ECM reached US$78.7bln for the month of July up 22% when compared to the same month last year. Global IPO volumes reached a 14 month high with US$9.2bln, and account for 12% of the total ECM market for July. Global follow-on Issuance reached US$61.3 bln for July this year, and accounts for 78% of ECM activity for this month. The largest ECM Issue of July was the US$12.27bln rights issue by Rio Tinto in the UK

BRIC Issuers Raised 26% of Global Equity in July - BRIC ECM accounts for 26% of global ECM issuance for July 2009 this is the largest level of activity for this region in 20 months, BRIC follow-on issuance has also reached an all time monthly high of 36 issues for July. BRIC market IPOs account for 93% of the total IPO activity for this month, which is due to one issue in particular the China State Construction Engineering IPO worth US$7.3bln

Global ECM Pipeline for 2009 Currently Stands at US$93.9bln - Follow-ons (US$72bn) and IPOs (US$19bn) account for 77% and 20.2% of the pipeline respectively. Emerging market issuers could raise up to US$48.1bln or 51% of the total ECM pipeline.

SYNDICATED LOANS

Monthly Loan Issuance at its Lowest Since 1993 - Global issuance of syndicated loans in July 09 reached US$34.6bln, down 88% from July 08 (US$278bn) and marks the lowest level of monthly activity since October 1993 (US$28.7bn). On the year to date global issuance stands at US$820bn, down 54% from the same period last year (US$1,788bn). European loans issuance reached US$7.7bn in July 09, down 93% from July 08 (US$115bn) whilst US issuance reached US$11.6bn, down 90% from July 08 (US$115bn). The largest loan for July is US2.2bln US Georgia-Pacific Corp issue

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

First sub-$100 billion Month for Worldwide M&A since September 2004 -  Worldwide M&A totals $1.1 trillion for year-to-date 2009, a 43% decrease over 2008 levels.  With just $96 billion in announced deals this month, merger activity in July marks the first monthly period since September 2004 with less than $100 billion in volume.

Mid-Market M&A Bolsters July Activity; Shutout for Deals over $5 billion - For the first time in nearly six years, not one worldwide M&A transaction over $5 billion was announced in a monthly period.  Deals under $500 million accounted for 40% of overall activity in July, with 22% of mid-market deals coming from companies in the United States, 12% from deal activity in China and 7% from Japan.

Financials & Energy Power Top Sectors - Comprising 21% of overall activity for the month, financial target M&A was driven by activity in the insurance and banking sectors, while energy and power targets were lifted by activity in the oil & gas space.

Morgan Stanley Leads Worldwide Rankings; JP Morgan leads Mid-Market; Evercore moves into Top 5 in the US

posted by Daisy Ku on Jul 31

Ford Motor Co has slowed the sale of its Volvo car unit as it plans to open up the auction to losing bidders for General Motors’ Opel, the Wall Street Journal cited a person close to the company as saying.

In other M&A related stories reported by Reuters and other media on Friday:

Russian mobile network Mobile TeleSystems (MBT.N) is set to pay $1.28 billion, or $5.98 per share, for a 51 percent stake in fixed line carrier Comstar (CMSTq.L), newspaper Kommersant reported.

Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines is preparing a bid to acquire bankrupt Frontier Airlines for a minimum of $113.6 million, exceeding the $108.8 million bid from Republic Airways Holdings. For the Reuters story, click here.

posted by Yahoo! News Search Results for dividends on Jul 31

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - July 30, 2009) - Pacific Northern Gas Ltd. (TSX:PNG)(TSX:PNG.PR.A) announced today that its Board of Directors declared a 8.7 percent increase in the quarterly dividend to 25 cents per share on the Company's common shares. The dividend will be payable September 22, 2009 to shareholders of record at the close of business on September 4, 2009. SECOND ...

posted by Yahoo! News Search Results for dividends on Jul 31

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA-- - Pacific Northern Gas Ltd. announced today that its Board of Directors declared a 8.7 percent increase in the quarterly dividend to 25 cents per share on the Company's common shares.

posted by Yahoo! News Search Results for dividends on Jul 31

Report says Gainey was "unable to articulate any legitimate business purpose" for loans made to family members.

posted by Yahoo! News Search Results for dividends on Jul 30

CYCLE & Carriage Bintang Bhd (CCB)( 2925 ) , Malaysia's largest dealer for Mercedes Benz vehicles, plans to pay shareholders RM90.7 million in special dividends as it now has room to return excess funds.

posted by Yahoo! News Search Results for dividends on Jul 30

Two Valley banks have paid more than $220,000 in dividends to the U.S. Treasury since receiving mone

posted by Yahoo! News Search Results for dividends on Jul 30

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 30, 2009) - Big 8 Split Inc. (TSX:BIG.A)(TSX:BIG.PR.B) announced today that it has declared a quarterly dividend on its Class B Preferred Shares of $0.21 per Class B Preferred Share and on its Class A Capital Shares of $0.13 per Class A Capital Share, representing an increase of $0.03 per Class A Capital Share. The dividends on both the Class B Preferred ...