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The first big equity issue of 2001, the IPO of mobile phone operator Orange, benefited from two strokes of good fortune this week. The US Federal Reserve unexpectedly cut interest rates by 50bp on Wednesday, injecting a much needed dose of hope into global stock markets. Then, yesterday (Thursday), Orange announced record breaking new subscriber figures for the last quarter of 2000. The two factors could mean that the deal, which Orange CEO Hans Snook had wanted to complete in 2000, could now be better coming this year.

The first big equity issue of 2001, the IPO of mobile phone operator Orange, benefited from two strokes of good fortune this week. The US Federal Reserve unexpectedly cut interest rates by 50bp on Wednesday, injecting a much needed dose of hope into global stock markets. Then, yesterday (Thursday), Orange announced record breaking new subscriber figures for the last quarter of 2000. The two factors could mean that the deal, which Orange CEO Hans Snook had wanted to complete in 2000, could now be better coming this year.

Belgium

Westfälische Hypothekenbank AG opened the jumbo Pfandbrief market this year with a Eu500m three year Öffentlicher Pfandbrief, jointly led by Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, HypoVereinsbank and UBS Warburg. BfG Hypothekenbank also launched a Eu350m Pfandbrief floater via Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. Jürgen Klebe, head of investor relations at WestHyp, said he was happy with the pricing. "The transaction was strongly retail driven by investors in central Europe and we swapped the paper into floating rate notes at swaps minus 2bp," said Klebe.

Westland/Utrecht Hypotheebank has kicked off the New Year with a four-year A$8 million ($4.48 million) trade which pays a final coupon of 5.2%. The note will be issued on 18 January 2001. It is the bank's first Australian dollar issue in 2000 and 2001 and only their second four-year note after its Kr1 billion trade ($27.08 million), which was issued on 22 September 2000. The note pays a final coupon of 6.5%.

Germany The blackout period for the Deutsche Börse IPO begins on Wednesday next week. The stock exchange, which announced strong third quarter figures before Christmas, is expected to list at the beginning of February.

JP Morgan and SG are expected to launch a Eu5bn acquisition financing for Pernod Ricard in the next two weeks. The jumbo facility is expected to be just one of a number of large loans from France in the first quarter, promising a good start to the year. Diageo and Pernod Ricard finally won the protracted bidding contest for Seagram's spirits division at the end of December 2000. The two paid $8.15bn for the business.

Jackson National Life has started its 2001 funding campaign with a five-year $25 million trade and a six-year euro24 million ($23.49 million) deal. The five-year note is a floater that will be issued on January 17. The euro-denominated note pays interest annually and has a final coupon of 1.25%. Four other gics have already started issuing this year continuing the success of the sector in finding funds from the MTN market. Premier Funding International has issued a euro30 million FRN via Lehman Brothers and AIG SunAmerica has issued three notes, one in yen and two in US dollar.

Three European corporates have signed CP programmes via Goldman Sachs in the last two weeks. Allied Domecq signed a $2.5 billion global CP facility. The Euro-CP dealers are ABN Amro, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Royal Bank of Scotland, and the US CP dealers are Citibank, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. The issuer has already accessed the US CP market with a US CP programme, but now wants to branch out. Mark Holliday, treasury analyst at Allied Domecq, says: "We will retain a fair amount of issuance into the US, but will be looking at Europe now too. Where we issue exactly will depend on the direction of the company as a whole." The borrower hopes to begin issuing before the end of the first quarter. Goldman Sachs was also responsible for bringing Scandinavian Airlines System to the Euro-CP market. The $500 million facility was signed last month and has Citibank, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and SEB Debt Capital Markets on its dealer panel. And Syngenta, the world's largest agrochemical company, has signed a $2.5 billion global CP programme. It was formed in November 2000 from the merger of the agrochemical and seed businesses of Novartis and AstraZeneca, Goldman Sachs is the arranger and only dealer, but says that more dealers will be added within the next month.

Hansabank has dropped SEB Debt Capital Markets as a dealer off its $500 million debt issuance programme and replaced it with Swedbank. The programme was signed in October 1997 and has $153.54 outstanding off 3 trades.

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India