Reuters first with record fees for bumper Pru rights issue

Reuters broke the news on May 17 that Prudential was paying investors record fees for its bumper right issue as it seeks to win over disgruntled shareholders for its takeover of AIA. Underwriting fees have been a huge issue for institutional investors who have complained bitterly about the level of fees paid to investment bankers during rights issues. With the generous 2 percent sub-underwriting fees, Prudential is also aiming to placate investors who had initially complained about being left out of sub-underwriting when the deal was made public in early March. Reuters was ahead of Dow Jones and Bloomberg and the story was confirmed by CEO Thiam during an analyst call.