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HSBC has made sure it deserves its Christmas break by doing a batch of five-year dollar deals for issuers that include Britannia Building Society, Irish Life and Permanent and Nationwide Building Society. The $5.35 million deals are all vanilla trades. Britannia Building Society's tranche offers USDLibor+5. Jeremy Helme, treasury sales manager at Britannia, says: "We will consider all sorts of structure as long as they are not too complex," and he adds that this is unlikely to be the issuer's last trade of the year.

Two property companies are signing MTN programmes in a bid to improve their funding opportunities in the Euro- and domestic markets. The new signings add weight to the view that the MTN platform of issuance is a popular funding option for companies in the property industry. Sun Hung Kai Properties is the largest property group in Hong Kong and the first company listed there to sign a Euro-MTN programme. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter arranges the $500 million facility, off which forthcoming issues will be in a variety of currencies and will have maturities of up to 30 years. Dealers expect the first deal off the facility to hit the market in the coming weeks. Joining the arranger in the dealer group is Banque Nationale de Paris, Chase Manhattan, HSBC, JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, SG and Warburg Dillon Read. The borrower has spent this week in London roadshowing to both dealers and investors. Although market participants may expect similar borrowers to have non-investment grade status, this one holds a good A3 rating from Moody's. Meanwhile, General Property Trust (GPT) signed a domestic A$1 billion ($645.80 million) short-term note and MTN programme. Commonwealth Bank of Australia is the arranger. In the MTN dealer group are Bankers Trust Australia, Merrill Lynch Australia, Westpac Banking Corporation and the arranger. GPT is rated double-A long-term and A-1+ short-term by S&P's.

Lloyds TSB and RBC have underwritten a £100m facility for British Polythene Industry (BPI). The facility will be used for working capital and for a 30% share buy-back, by tender offer. The buy-back is to defend the borrower from a hostile bid by plastics and packaging business Macfarlane. The loan could go to further syndication depending on how the takeover bid proceeds. The battle began in September with a £92.3m takeover bid tabled by Macfarlane. The company upped the stakes when it raised its offer and bought 10% of BPI's shares in the market. But shares in BPI rose after the company said, on December 4, that talks with a third party could lead to a cash offer above the 310p a share offered by Macfarlane.

*Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter will manage the IPO of Burberry, the luxury fashion unit of Great Universal Stores (GUS). The deal is tipped to value the unit at around the £2bn marker. The listing is due to take place within the next 18 months. It will let Burberry establish itself as an individual brand. "This would mark a major point in the development of Burberry, and provide transparency for its increasing value within GUS," said GUS chief executive John Peace.

Globals * British Telecommunications plc

John Deere signed a $1 billion global CP programme on Tuesday, February 16 1999 in the names of three issuers: Deere & Company, John Deere Capital Corporation and John Deere Credit Group. John Deere has made occasional appearances in the international capital markets to date. Its last was with a $150 million fixed rate Eurobond in May 1998. Deutsche Bank was bookrunner for the trade and has also been chosen to arrange the CP facility. However, prior to the issue John Deere had not been in the market since 1988. It is best known for making tractors but is also involved in manufacturing other agricultural equipment, construction equipment and both commercial and consumer equipment. There are two dealer groups, one for its USCP and another for its Euro-CP. They comprise Deutsche Bank Securities and Salomon Smith Barney Incorporated, and Citibank International and Deutsche Bank, respectively. The Euro-CP IPA is Citibank and the USCP IPA is US Bank Trust National Association. The programme is rated P-1, A-1 and F1 by Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch IBCA.

* Unilever plc Guarantor: Unilever NV

The Swedish central banking unit, Venantius, has shown that it is as keen as ever on 10-year yen trades, issuing its 27th of the year on December 21. The ¥1 billion ($9.05 million) note has a Bermuda callable fixed-rate step-up structure attached, which increases the initial coupon of 1% by 0.35% each year. The final coupon will be 4.15%. BNP Paribas was the bookrunner. Katarina Lovgren, part of the Euro-MTN team at Venantius, says: "We will be sticking with this type of trade as it is great funding for us. We have done loads of 10-year yen trades this year and although we would like some longer-term funding, because this type of trade is callable after a year it is a good substitute for CP."

Volkswagen has followed its CP update, where it doubled its issuing ceiling, by increasing the issuing limit off its euro2.5 billion ($2.44 billion) debt issuance programme to euro5 billion. There is $2.39 billion outstanding off the programme from 33 trades. And the issuer has raised over $3 billion in 2000 from the facility using 14 different dealers. Credit Suisse First Boston has placed the greatest volume for Volkswagen: $682.95 million from five trades. The programme was signed in 1996, with Commerzbank and JP Morgan as co-arrangers.

Vorarlberger Landes- und Hypothekenbank has increased the issuing limit of its programme from euro1 billion ($891.8 million) to euro2 billion. Banca del Gottardo has been dropped as a dealer. According to MTNWare, it had failed to place any trades for the issuer. Nomura replaces it on the 10-strong dealer panel. The issuer has raised $808.52 million-worth of debt in five different currencies off its programme, which it signed in September 1999. Its favourite currency is Swiss francs.

US supermarket group Wal-Mart this week emphasised its leading position in the retail sector and its powerful attraction for investors by raising £500m of 30 year money at a spread several basis points inside price talk. The issue is the largest long dated corporate sterling deal, alongside Procter & Gamble's (P&G) £500m 30 year bond launched in January. Wal-Mart had planned a £300m issue priced in the 150bp area over Gilts, but an overwhelmingly positive response justified an increase to £500m and a narrowing in spread to 146bp.

US supermarket group Wal-Mart this week emphasised its leading position in the retail sector and its powerful attraction for investors by raising £500m of 30 year money at a spread several basis points inside price talk. The issue is the largest long dated corporate sterling deal, alongside Procter & Gamble's (P&G) £500m 30 year bond launched in January. Wal-Mart had planned a £300m issue priced in the 150bp area over Gilts, but an overwhelmingly positive response justified an increase to £500m and a narrowing in spread to 146bp.