Three banks launched $550 million in debt and preferred stock financing on Wednesday.
Spain's Banco Bilbao Vizcaya is raising $200 million in an unusual offering of preferred stock in both the United States and Spain.
In addition, BankAmerica Corp. and Society National Bank raised a total of $350 million in subordinated debt.
Strong Interest Seen Before
The Spanish bank has issued preferred stock in the United States before and found strong interest in those dollar-denominated issues among Spanish investors, said Jesus Onzain, head of capital resources at the bank.
BBV has begun a subscription offering for the preferred in Spain, Mr. Onzain said.
The subscription period ends next week, and the entire issue will be priced then, he said.
The split between the U.S. and Spanish tranches depends on demand in Spain, an investment banker said.
BBV, with about $87 billion of assets at year-end, has a total capital ratio of over 11%.
The offering, managed by Kidder Peabody International, comprises 8 million shares of noncumulative preferred stock at $25 each.
The proposed dividend is 8% to 8 1/8%. The issue is rated by A1 by Moody's Investors Service and A by Standard & Poor's.
Other Issues
BankAmerica raised $150 million in 10-year notes in the Euromarkets. Kidder Peabody International was lead manager.
The notes have a minimum coupon of 5.50%, a maximum coupon of 10%, and float at 12.5 basis points over the six-month London interbank offered rate. The issue is rated A3 by Moody's and A-minus by S&P.
Society National Bank, a unit of Society Corp., issued $200 million of subordinated notes through underwriters led by J.P. Morgan Securities. The noncallable issue was priced to yield 6.84%, 77 basis points over the 10-year U.S. Treasury note. It is rated A3 by Moody's and A-minus by S&P.
Bankers Trust Issue Suffers
Bankers Trust New York's Corp.'s $150 million issue of convertible capital notes broke syndicate on Wednesday and was being bid at $24 a share, 4% lower than its offer price.
Investment bankers said the deal suffered from a glut in the preferred stock market.
The issue starts off as debt with a 7 5/8% coupon. The bank has the option of lowering the rate by 1.5 percentage points. At that point, investors can opt to exchange the debt for preferred stock, with a dividend equal to the debt's original rate.
