When Temasek and GIC first bought big stakes in Merrill Lynch and Citi respectively, some analysts (self-included) were wondering where was Warren Buffett? Surely these banks would have tried him first? And if he passed, what did it mean? Was he giving banks a miss because they were offering him bad terms (he has a reputation of demanding and getting great terms: Goldman Sachs is a gd example) or did he have other issues?
Since then the world has witnesses the deaths of Lehman and AIG, and a shakeup in the financial industry. And Buffett buying.
Not only that, but he is borrowing half of the $16 billion in cash Berkshire plans to use for the Burlington deal, his latest.
So it is interesting to note that Temasek returned to the bond market for the second time this year to raise US$500 million ($692 million) via a 30-year issue. This issue follows a US$1.5 billion 10-year bond in October and a US$1.75 billion 10-year paper in Sept 2005.
After the latest deal, US$1.25 billion remains untapped of Temasek’s US$5 billion medium-term note program.
