BNP, Merrill, Morgan Stanley win $1 bln Egypt General oil mandate

BNP Paribas, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley have secured the lead mandate from Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. for a deal estimated at $1 billion, according to a well-placed source. The trio are joint bookrunners. The transaction will most likely stick to the tried-and-true future flow structures witnessed from other emerging market energy producers. The leads may come up against withholding tax issues that has dogged a National Bank of Egypt deal also being handled by Merrill and Morgan Stanley, but the source said those hurdles would probably be easier to clear with a non-financial institution.