2003 Annual Report: Raising the Bar for Large Companies and Institutions (Page 3 of 3)

Rasing Capital for Companies Down Under

Australian and New Zealand companies have often looked beyond their shores to seek out opportunity. Sometimes, they turn to Bank of America.

Facing limited opportunities to raise capital at home, and desiring access to long-term debt, growing companies in Australia and New Zealand have sometimes tapped the U.S. private placement market for hundreds of millions of dollars at a time. Banc of America Securities, with its deep ties to the U.S. institutional investor community, has for several years been the leading arranger of these U.S. deals for companies Down Under.

In the last two years, Banc of America Securities has gained an even deeper foothold in this important niche business through a joint venture with Westpac, one of Australia's four leading banking companies. Through the partnership, Banc of America Securities has gained access to Westpac's corporate client base. And Westpac has been able to give its corporate clients, including a leading paper manufacturer and a real estate investment company, access to U.S. private placement borrowings.

In 2003, Banc of America Securities raised $1.3 billion in capital for five Australian companies, a jump of more than 40% from the previous year. And the alliance between the two banking companies is now expanding to include U.S. public long-term debt, known as "Yankee bonds," for foreign companies seeking to raise capital in the U.S. capital markets.