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UBS Warburg and Banco Espírito Santo this week brought a Eu500m wrapped transaction for Rede Ferroviária Nacional (Refer), the Portuguese railway infrastructure company. The deal is Refer's first term financing not to be explicitly guaranteed by the Portuguese sovereign. "We marketed it as a Eu350m deal," said a syndicate official at UBS Warburg in London. "The fact that we were able to increase it so much demonstrates the success of the process. It opens up an opportunity for the company to borrow in its own right, without a guarantee."

The region of Sicily will shortly close a Eu645m innovative securitisation of receivables owed to 25 healthcare companies, arranged by Nomura. The deal, which will start marketing next week for launch in early February, illustrates the increasingly popular use of securitisation by Italian regions, particularly to tackle healthcare deficits.

UK mortgage lender Northern Rock (NR) this week set the tone for the UK RMBS market with a successful return to its Granite master trust, launching its largest issue yet worth more than £3bn equivalent. Lead managed by Citigroup/SSSB and Merrill Lynch, the deal was closely followed by market observers as a gauge of investor appetite after the glut of UK RMBS in the final quarter of last year - and ahead of a benchmark issue from HBoS in the coming weeks.

Telecom Italia, Italy's dominant telco, this week launched a Eu100m tap issue from its securitisation programme, secured on billed and unbilled telephone receivables. Telecom Italia was the first, and to date the only European incumbent to tap the term securitisation market, launching a Eu700m issue via BNP Paribas and West LB in June 2001.

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein is nearing the market with a securitisation of non-performing loans for Pirelli & C Real Estate. The deal, due to reach the market in March, will securitise a portfolio of secured loans principled by Pirelli with a gross book value of Eu200m. The portfolio, which will be serviced by Pirelli's own servicing arm, will be split into a highly rated, short dated senior bond, worth Eu40m-Eu50m, a Eu10m-Eu15m mezzanine tranche, and a Eu20m equity layer. The mezzanine bond will not be offered, but may be retained by either Dresdner or Pirelli.

Jerry Woods, managing director in fixed income and 20-plus year veteran of Morgan Stanley in New York, will join Credit Suisse First Boston next month as global co-head of fixed income. An official familiar with the new structure said Woods will work alongside Jim Healy, executive board member and global head of the emerging markets group, who will be named as the other co-head. CSFB watchers said Jack DiMaio, head of fixed income for North America, and Trevor Price, head of the firm's rates business, were passed over for the role of co-head in favor of Woods. DiMaio and Price did not return calls by press time.

Owens Corning's bank debt was a few points lower this week after the company filed its plan of reorganization and a couple of lenders were looking to unload the name. A $20 million piece was believed to have changed hands around the 63 1/2 level, but the trade could not be confirmed. Market players said the name was softer after the company filed its reorganization plan because asbestos liabilities were larger than expected. The reorganization plan provided for $16 billion in asbestos liabilities, a company spokesman said. He also noted that proposed allowance to asbestos liabilities outstripped the value of the bank and bond debt and reduced the overall estate. A disclosure statement is set to be filed on Feb. 28, but there is no current date for emergence from Chapter 11.

Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch are launching retail syndication Penn National Gaming's $800 million acquisition credit this Thursday. Pricing on the $600 million "B" piece is LIBOR plus 3 1/2%. When launched at the managing agent level, the spread was LIBOR plus 3%, said a banker familiar with the deal. The spread on the $100 million revolver and $100 million "A" piece increased from LIBOR plus 2 3/4% to LIBOR plus 3%. The banker said the pricing increases are in sync with the expected B+/B1 ratings on the credit. The banker expected the ratings to be released later this week. Multiples are 3.1 times senior leverage and 4.7 times total leverage. Bear Stearns and Merrill bankers declined comment.

ABN AMRO has made its collateralized debt obligations business a joint venture between credit trading and asset-backed securities in a move that will significantly boost the firm's CDO structuring and sales capabilities. "This means no fussing and mussing over CDOs," said John Mullen, global head of structured credit markets in London. Putting CDOs in one group across trading and ABS broadens the choice of assets available as reference entities and simplifies the hedging and sales process, explained Niall Cameron, global head of credit markets in London. Fernando Guerrero, global head of CDOs in New York, now reports jointly to Cameron and Mullen. Previously securitizations with an ABS bent were in Mullen's group and those referenced to default swaps were under Cameron's domain.

Barclays Bank has hired Elizabeth Goodall, interest rate saleswoman at JPMorgan in London, and Biraj Parmar, finance director at UKprocure, a supplier of products to the public sector, in London, as senior treasury advisors in its derivatives sales team in London. The bank also plans to bring more staffers on board in the same area. Goodall and Parmar report to Tim Kirkham, head of derivatives sales in London. Goodall, who started last week, and Parmer, who starts this week, were both on a training course and could not be reached.