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When it comes to persuading European corporates to cross the Atlantic to the US private placement market, Stephen Schechter's act is hard to beat. He has now completed more than $6 billion worth of private placement deals, including seven deals this year.
But his latest, for UK gaming and entertainment company Stakis, is different because the company has succeeded in placing a large portion of the bond with a UK institutional investor - a move that has helped the company extend the average maturity of the paper and save money on the coupon.
Schechter used to be a general partner in the former Wertheim Bank in New York. When the two-part acquisition of Wertheim by Schroders was completed in July 1994 Schechter, along with other general partners at the US firm, agreed to stay with the company for another year.
Within a year Win Bischof, the chairman of Schroders, had invited Schechter and his wife to dinner to suggest that...