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National Bedding Company faces some tough integration risks by acquiring bankrupt Sleepmaster, promptingMoody's Investors Service to slap a B1 rating on the company's $235 million acquisition facility. Kevin Ziets, associate analyst at Moody's, said the company will have its work cut out for it in digesting Sleepmaster. "Any acquisition involves risks, but when the deal more than doubles the size of the company and when the acquired has been preoccupied with Chapter 11 proceedings, the challenges of integration are greater," he noted.

DIRECTV is set to hit the market Thursday with a $1.55 billion credit that includes an $800 million institutional loan. Deutsche Bank and Bank of America are leading the fully underwritten deal, with Credit Suisse First Boston, Citibank and Goldman Sachs on the agent level. The deal was pitched to senior managing agents last Wednesday.

AES Corp.'s bank debt benefited from the sale of Cilcorp--its utility holding company whose largest subsidiary is Central Illinois Light Company--to Ameren Corp. for $1.4 billion. The market for AES' "A" piece climbed into the 97-98 context and the "B" and "C" tranches were said to be trading in the 94-95 1/2 range. AES received roughly $500 million in net equity, $250 million of which was used to pay down the company's bank debt.

Chohung Bank is looking to launch a $250m tier two debt issue to shore up its capital base after making big loan loss provisions in 2002. Citigroup/SSB will be sole bookrunner for the 10 year non-call five deal and also has a mandate for a tier one hybrid sub debt bond for Chohung.

AUSTRALASIA New Zealand

Australia Bank of Queensland (BoQ) this week sold the first domestic securitisation of Australian mortgages in 2003 via Macquarie Debt Markets. The A$400m deal was the 10th under BoQ's REDS programme. Macquarie has a long relationship with BoQ and brought its last deal, also worth A$400m, in August 2002.

The privatisation of China National Foreign Trade Transportation Group, better known as Sinotrans, looks set to be a solid success. Bankers in Hong Kong predict a five to six times oversubscription on the institutional element of the IPO when the books are closed today (Friday) in the US. Sinotrans has been roadshowing the IPO since January 23, with pricing and allocation to be completed by Monday.

Two new stock issues from the listed property trust sector emerged this week. On Tuesday UBS Warburg helped AMP Shopping Centre Trust (ART) raise around A$112m. Meanwhile, JP Morgan is working with James Fielding Group to raise just over A$115m. UBS sold 79.97m new ART units in a deal that was more than two times covered. The issue secured A$112m for ART and took place at A$1.41, a marginal discount to the A$1.45 market price before the placement.

The Republic of the Philippines is looking to launch a seven year deal for up to Eu500m in the face of market concerns about the increasingly likelihood of military action against Iraq. The republic this week mandated Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) and JP Morgan to joint lead manage the issue. But in an uncertain market environment the leads have their work cut out to ensure the transaction goes well.

This week's transaction for Indonesian auto concern PT Astra International was reminiscent of the glory days of the southeast Asian stockmarket boom of the early 1990s. The company announced a discounted rights issue, the stock rose and the holders took up all their rights. But the backdrop to the successful completion of the $161m rights issue this week was anything but simple. The deal was the latest phase of the Astra rescue plan, with the company having been both a leading beneficiary and then victim of Asian boom and bust in the 1990s.

Australia Snowy Hydro this week entered the final stages of preparation for the launch of a A$500m seven or 10 year wrapped issue. The transaction, which is wrapped by XL Insurance, should be priced either late next week or early the week afterwards. So far the lead managers have not released any official pricing guidance.

Guarantor: Fortis SA/NV Rating: Aa3/A+/A+