A firm called Japonica Partners has announced a tender offer for 10% of all Greek government bonds.
FT Alphaville reports that the firm, which is based in Rhode Island, was founded in the late 80s by former Goldman banker Paul Kazarian.
Here's the full statement below the dashes
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FRANKFURT, Germany, June 3, 2013 /CNW/ -
  • First-ever tender offer by private investor for European government bonds
  • First-ever unmodified Dutch auction for sovereign bonds
  • Significant premium to price in December 2012 government buy-back
  • Japonica to align its long-term investment interests with Greece
Japonica Partners & Co. announces an invitation by its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary Yerusalem Hesed, Ltd. (the "Acquirer") for eligible holders of certain series of bonds issued by Greece in 2012 to sell the bonds for cash. The amount to be purchased will be up to €2.9 billion in face value which represents less than 9.9% of the total outstanding €29.6 billion of Greece government bonds. The purchase of the bonds by the acquirer would permit existing holders to monetize their Greece government bonds.
This offer marks the first time ever that a private investor tenders for European government bonds. Also for the first time ever, purchase prices for a sovereign bond tender will be determined by an unmodified Dutch auction. The rationale for this highly innovative tender procedure is to apply an effective method to purchase institutional blocks of these bonds in an orderly and price-efficient manner.
The invitation provides maximum flexibility by enabling the acquirer to make immediate purchases and by giving investors a right to withdraw prior to acceptance or the tender deadline. The expected tender deadline is 5:00pm Central European Time on 1 July 2013, unless otherwise revised in accordance with the Tender Offer Memorandum.
The minimum purchase price for each of the series of bonds is 45.0% of their principal amount, a 26.5% premium to their average price in the December 2012 Greece government bond buyback, and a 15.2% premium to the average closing price on 27 March 2013.
Japonica believes that the market for Greece government bonds is volatile, highly illiquid, and at any time not necessarily reflective of their intrinsic value. During a 42 trading day period in the first quarter of 2013, historical price volatility included a 27.8% decline in average price. The minimum purchase price is a discount to the most recent average price.
A Japonica spokesperson said: "This tender offer reflects Japonica's long-term perspective on Greece and the progress that the country has made to date. It is Japonica's goal to align its investment interests with those of Greece."
Japonica Partners is an entrepreneurial investment firm that makes concentrated investments in underperforming global special situations. Founded in 1988, Japonica Partners has developed and builds "perfectly aligned" relationships that both cultivate entrepreneurial returns and are the foundation of low risk. With its high value creation core competencies, Japonica invests to significantly raise the bar for the best investments globally. Japonica Partners is not a fund, nor does it provide investment advice.
The invitation is restricted to certain eligible institutional investors and bonds may only be tendered for purchase in a minimum principal amount of €1,000,000 and multiple integrals of €1 in excess thereof. The invitation is being made on the terms described in the Tender Offer Memorandum to be issued on or about 5 June 2013. Further details, including the relevant series of bonds, will also be contained in an announcement to be promulgated together with or shortly before the Tender Offer Memorandum.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-06-03/may-winners-and-losers-sell-may-sell-bonds

May Winners And Losers: Sell In May... Sell Bonds That Is

Tyler Durden's picture
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/03/2013 07:39 -0400



DB's observations on May's best performers:
Whilst "Sell in May" didn’t work out for Equities it certainly did for Fixed Income. Indeed it was a volatile month for the asset class in general which saw Treasuries suffer their worst monthly total return performance since Dec 2009. The move in core US rates clearly had a negative impact on total return performances in US Credit with IG and HY benchmarks down -2.4% and -0.6%, respectively. The former clearly bearing most of the brunt as that the lower outright yield meant that IG returns was always going to be more sensitive to a rise in rates. Fixed income weakness was also a theme evident across European and Sterling credit with HY also outperforming IG on a relative basis. Whilst the negative total returns in Bunds (-1.5%), OATs (-1.6%) and Gilts (-2.6%) also had a negative impact on total returns, European and Sterling credit enjoyed better return profiles relative to their US counterparts in May.
Away from the shake-up in fixed income, USD strength and EM weakness were the other main themes in May. Indeed EM bonds, FX and equities were mostly  weaker although the notable exception here being Chinese equities which interestingly was also May’s best performer in our oft-used ranking chart below. Indeed the Shanghai Composite added nearly 6% in May to post its first positive monthly return in four months. Away from China, performance in Russian, Indian and Brazilian equities were -0.6%, +1.4% and -4.3%, respectively with the latter also coincided with a four week low in the BRL against the Dollar. The MSCI EM index was down 2.6% in May.
Back to equities whilst it was clearly a positive month the S&P 500 (+2.3%), sector performances were mixed. Indeed a micro theme that is gaining momentum on the back of a rise in Treasury yields has been the underperformance and rotation away from divided stocks. Using the S&P 500 sector as a guide the month saw defensive/lower beta Utilities (-8.29%) and Telecom (-6.58%) sharply underperform cyclical/growth plays in Financials (+5.08%), Industrials (+2.96%) and IT (+2.46%). In Europe, the Stoxx 600 and FTSE are up +2.2% and +2.8 – bringing their respective YTD performance to +10.1% and +13.9%. Finally in commodities, Gold and Silver are still lagging most other major asset classes with a YTD performance of -17% and -27%, respectively.