Banc of America maintains lead in convertible league tables as Lehman grabs second spot

• U.S. market convertibles issuance totals $31.6 billion year to date

• April issuance up 25% year on year at $12.5 billion

By Kenneth Lim

Boston, April 30 - Banc of America remained the top underwriter in the convertible league tables for the year through April, while Lehman Brothers shot up to the second spot on the back of its massive preferred offering.

Banc of America had $8.06 billion from eight deals at the end of April, accounting for 25.49% of the total year-to-date issuance, according to figures compiled by Prospect News. The bank is well ahead of the rest of the underwriters with deals worth at least 1.5 times its closest competitor.

Lehman Brothers, which was not even in the top 10 at the end of the first quarter, surged to the second spot with $4.75 billion from five deals, or 15.03% of total issuance. Most of Lehman's deal volume came from its own upsized $4 billion of 7.25% perpetual convertible preferreds, which were issued at the start of the month. Not surprisingly, Lehman was also the lead underwriter in April, with $4.59 billion from four deals.

New issuance at the end of April stood at $31.61 billion from 51 deals, about 15% less than the $37.25 billion issued from 81 deals in the year-ago period.

The Lehman Brothers deal helped April to arrest the slide in the previous two months. New issuance in April 2008 was $12.49 billion from 14 deals, about 25% more than in April 2007.

Goldman Sachs, with $2.51 billion from two deals in April, managed to inch past Citigroup to maintain its third spot. Wachovia, with $2.01 billion from a single deal in April, made its entrance into the top 10, while Credit Suisse and ABN were knocked out of the table.

Year to date

2007 Comparables

	Underwriter	Amount	No.	Share	Rank	Amount	No.	Share
1	Banc of America	8.058	8	25.49%	7	2.579	11	6.92%
2	Lehman	4.752	5	15.03%	10	1.235	9	3.32%
3	Goldman Sachs	4.255	7	13.46%	8	1.987	11	5.33%
4	Citigroup	4.009	9	12.68%	5	3.883	13	10.42%
5	Wachovia	2.169	3	6.86%	12	0.344	2	0.92%
6	JPMorgan	2.030	14	6.42%	1	6.425	22	17.25%
7	Deutsche Bank	1.657	8	5.24%	3	4.290	9	11.52%
8	UBS	1.302	9	4.12%	9	1.488	9	3.99%
9	Merrill Lynch	1.122	9	3.55%	4	4.279	15	11.49%
10	Morgan Stanley	0.880	7	2.78%	2	5.318	8	14.27%
	Total	31.609	51	37.254	81
	Average size:	0.620	0.460
April
					2007 Comparables
	Underwriter	Amount	No.	Share	Rank	Amount	No.	Share
1	Lehman	4.594	4	36.77%	8	0.278	2	2.79%
2	Goldman Sachs	2.513	2	20.11%	11	0.077	1	0.77%
3	Wachovia	2.013	1	16.11%
4	Deutsche Bank	0.947	3	7.58%	9	0.115	2	1.15%
5	JPMorgan	0.777	4	6.22%	7	0.360	3	3.61%
6	Morgan Stanley	0.592	4	4.74%	1	4.125	3	41.38%
7	Banc of America	0.362	2	2.90%	3	1.337	2	13.42%
8	Citigroup	0.287	2	2.30%	4	0.775	1	7.77%
9	UBS	0.277	2	2.22%	12	0.077	1	0.77%
10	Merrill Lynch	0.068	1	0.54%	6	0.425	2	4.26%
	Total	12.492	14	9.969	16
	Average size:	0.892	0.623
Prospect News Convertibles Underwriter Rankings

Criteria

• The tables include all underwritten dollar-denominated offerings sold in the United States as public or Rule 144A deals reported to Prospect News.

• Offerings are included in the time period in which they price.

• Amounts are based on the total sales price (face amount multiplied by the offering price). The full amount is credited to the bookrunner (or lead manager if no bookrunners). For multiple bookrunners (or lead managers), the total value is divided equally among all the firms.

• Each tranche is counted as a separate deal.

• Bonds are included that convert into the issuer's or another company's stock or the cash equivalent; bonds that convert into other bonds are excluded.

• Structured products issued by an investment bank and exchangeables for or linked to another company's stock are excluded.

• Units made up of a bond and stock are included; units made up of a bond and warrants are excluded.

• Preferred issues are included using the same criteria as for bonds.

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