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Private corporates traded just shy of $850m from 18 transactions. General Electric Capital pushed through four trades, including a $100m three year note. The trade pays 25bp over three month Libor and was led by Credit Suisse First Boston. General Electric Capital Canada looked to Swedish kronor with a Skr375m one year note and a Skr250m trade that matures on November 21, 2003. Volkswagen Financial Services issued two yen transactions via Citigroup/SSSB. The notes were for ¥10bn and ¥5bn.

Issuance between five and seven years picked up this week, representing over $1.2bn of volume. SNS bank traded the biggest deal in this range. The Dutch borrower's Eu250m transaction goes out six years and pays an annual coupon of 3.7%. But it was the UK names that tapped the mid-range five to seven year sector most frequently, and UBS Warburg was an active dealer here. The bank placed £4.1m worth of transactions for Alliance & Leicester Group Treasury, Bradford & Bingley, Northern Rock, Britannia Building Society, and Portman Building Society. The transactions made up the fixed income components of a new equity linked fund targeting UK retail investors.

Triple-A edged out double-A issuance in terms of volume this week, with less than $40m separating them. France's highly rated credits were the most active in the triple-A sector. Réseau Ferré de France closed a £50m note via HSBC, which was more notable for its tenor of 50 years. The note carries an annual coupon of 5% and is fungible 40 days from the payment date with two issues totalling £300m launched on February 15, 2002 and July 1, 2002. Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français also closed for £50m through Royal Bank of Scotland. The note settles in June 2037.

Class A6 notes: £325m Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

EuroWeek hears that publicly listed UK private equity house, Candover Investments plc, has beaten rival bidders in the auction of the educational publishing arm of Dutch publisher Wolters Kluwer. The deal should be for around Eu500m, although this has not been confirmed. No details have been released but according to a rival bidder, the level of senior debt offered by banks backing sponsors was peaking at 6.4 times total debt to Ebitda.

Amount: Eu1.4bn Legal maturity: October 25, 2017

Cattles, the UK consumer finance provider, yesterday (Thursday) raised £80m to finance two acquisitions. Lead manager HSBC placed the new shares at 300p, having underwritten the offering at 290p. The pricing was a 5.5% discount to the previous close.

A quiet week for central and east European Eurobond issuers failed to mask their comparative success over the past few months. The region's issuers are constrained by the same difficulties as other borrowers globally, such as brief windows of opportunity, investors being more selective about the credits they buy, and the need to pay more to get a successful transaction away.

Rating: Aa1/AA- Amount: $1.5bn (increased from $1bn) global bond

Rating: A1/AA+ Amount: Eu180m

Rating: Aa3/AAA Amount: Eu50m (fungible with Eu300m issue launched 24/06/02)