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Domestic Deals

Southern LNG Seeks Private Funds

January 30, 2009 - Liquefied natural gas company Southern LNG was in the market last week seeking private funds via Banc of America Securities.

Survey Shows Cautious Optimism Reigns

January 30, 2009 - A survey conducted at this year's Private Placements Industry Forum shows that 'cautious optimism' is the prevailing sentiment among private market participants.

Duquense Light Seeks FMB via JPM

January 30, 2009 - Western Pennsylvania-based electric utility Duquesne Light is looking to tap the market with a first mortgage bond deal via JPMorgan Securities.

Buzz Box

January 30, 2009 - Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Securities are in the market with a deal for Ultra Petroleum. The deal was on the road last week and is expected to price-up this week.

Buysiders Start Year on Cautious Note

January 23, 2009 - Private placement investors sounded a conservative tone last week at the Private Placements Industry Forum in Boca Raton, Fla., saying they are mostly interested in NAIC-1 deals from non-cyclical industries, with a bias toward deals from the U.S. and familiar regions like the U.K. and Western Europe. Though caution was indeed the watchword among buysiders, most said they would look selectively at deals further down the credit ladder and farther from home.

Private Market Again Alive With Deal Talk, If Not Deals

January 19, 2009 - The private placement market was again abuzz last week with a new round of whispers about potential deals, though most are not expected to launch or price until after the Private Placements Industry Forum later this week.

2009 Conference Preview: Event Takes on Heightened Meaning In Troubled Market

January 19, 2009 - The annual Private Placements Industry Forum, hosted by the Institute for International Research, is almost like the official New Year's celebration for the private placement market. This year, with private placement issuance down to a trickle and the overall markets still uncertain, the conference takes on an even greater importance, say many sources.

Buzz Box

January 19, 2009 - Barclays Capital and JPMorgan Securities were on the verge of pricing their deal for U.K.-based defense technology company QinetiQ Group as PPL went to press last week.

Buzz Box

January 12, 2009 - For the record...energy company Avista Corp. tapped the private placement market for $30 million in a first mortgage bond via KeyBanc Capital Markets in late December.

The 10 Biggest Private Placements of 2008

January 5, 2009 - Last year turned out to be another tumultuous one for the private placement market, starting out with a solid first half but slowing to a crawl for the entire fourth quarter. The year was not without its highlights, however, including a month of May that saw nearly $5 billion priced, as well as the following top 10 biggest private placements of 2008...

Looking Ahead ... 2009 Expected to Start Slowly as Same Concerns Linger

January 5, 2009 - The start of a new year often comes as a breath of fresh air for the private placement market, with a spate of new deals putting an end to the traditional holiday slowdown. This year, however, as the private market is coming off one of its slowest quarters in history, few expect that to happen.

LORD Corp. Seeking Funds in Quiet Deal

December 15, 2008 - North Carolina-based diversified technology company LORD Corp. is seeking private funds via PNC Capital Markets, sources said. The deal has kept a low-profile in the relatively quiet private placement market because it is going out mostly to existing investors in LORD's debt.

ITC Midwest Gets a Bite of Private Funds

December 15, 2008 - JPMorgan Securities priced a $75 million deal for ITC Midwest last week. The issuer is the second ITC Holdings to tap the private market in just over two weeks, and the deal continues the steady march of small utility first mortgage bonds which have kept the private market alive over the past two months.

Deutsche, Wells Fargo Team Up for PGE

December 15, 2008 - Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo priced a first mortgage bond for publicly-traded utility Portland General Electric Co. (PGE) last week. The company has tapped the private market for nearly $500 million in the past two years.

October/November Recap

December 8, 2008 - The U.S. private placement market priced a mere $434 million between October and November, according to data tracked by Private Placement Letter. All six deals during the two months were at the $150 million level or below, and all were from domestic issuers.