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Feria Valencia, Spain's oldest trade fair institution based in the region of Valencia, has launched a Eu325m debt programme based on structured finance techniques via Santander Central Hispano (SCH). As well as providing a template for European regional entities to access the capital markets, the deal is a landmark transaction for long dated euro denominated bonds. There are few precedents for the deal. In September 2001 Portugal launched a Eu126m wrapped bond to finance the privatisation of a railway - the bond has a final maturity in 2027 with a 20 year average life.

Cetelem Group, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas and the largest consumer finance company in France, this week launched its latest transaction from the MasterNoria vehicle. The market responded strongly to a recognised player and a rare product. Lead managed by BNP Paribas, the Eu320m deal backed by unsecured consumer loans is the fifth to use the MasterNoria vehicle, a master trust-like structure set up in October 1998.

UK mortgage lender Britannic Money, formerly First Active Financial, has launched a £500m securitisation backed by a mixture of owner-occupied and buy-to-let mortgages. Launch spreads on triple-A paper from the First Flexible deals have tightened with each transaction. Last Friday joint bookrunners Barclays Capital and RBS Financial Markets priced the fifth securitisation of flexible mortgages at 23bp over, 4bp tighter than last July's £500m deal, with similar average lives of 5.2-5.3 years.

Merrill Lynch is preparing a second securitisation of existing and future ticket receivables from airline LanChile. Up to $55m of fixed rate notes will be issued, backed by receivables from credit or charge card sales in the US. Most are for flights between Chile and New York, Miami or Los Angeles. The transaction is a follow-up issue from an original programme completed in 1999, with outstanding principal of $47.6m.

NIB Capital is preparing a $227.6m synthetic securitisation of shipping loans, a global first from a sector which is expected to see further activity. The deal transfers the mezzanine layer of a $669.5m portfolio of shipping loans. NIB transfers the credit risk of the portfolio to Merrill Lynch via a credit default swap, and retains a 6% first loss piece.

The latest securitisation of UK credit card receivables from MBNA Europe Bank met with strong demand from European investors, as spreads tighten across the market. Joint bookrunners Barclays Capital and JP Morgan brought the first CARDS transaction to be offered solely in euros.

KBC Alternative Investment Management has hired Dan Jones from KBC Financial Products to adapt one of JPMorgan's proprietary models, which focuses on hedging credit risk via equity, for KBC's systems. Andy Preston, fund manager, said the hedge fund team, which runs two funds with USD650 million in capital, has been studying using equity derivatives to hedge credit risk. He explained this is a natural progression from solely using credit-defaults swaps for convertible arbitrage, as convertibles stand naturally between the two asset classes of debt and equity. Preston said the most common form of this is to buy equity puts.

Small pieces of Adelphia Communications' Century Cable bank debt traded in the Street yesterday, starting the day at 88 and then falling to the 84 3/4 range, after Moody's Investors Service downgraded Adelphia and its operating companies. The ratings agency said the downgrades reflect the recovery values in the face of an "imminent bankruptcy." One dealer said that while market players expect a bankruptcy filing, the downgrades caused vehicles to sell, putting downward pressure on the price.

Roughly about $30 million of Tyco International's February 2003 paper was said to have traded in the 95 range before sinking to the 93-94 context on news of Dennis Kozlowski's, indictment for tax evasion. Market players had mixed feelings about the scandal. Some say it had nothing to do with the company and that it was purely a personal matter of the former ceo, and others are worrying that the creditability issues could extend to the company as well. Calls to Mark Swartz, company executive v.p. and cfo, were not returned.

Approximately $25-35 million of Tyco International February 2003 bank debt was auctioned in the 94-95 range on today, although some said the market for the name was more accurately represented at the 93-94 level. Market players said the name was moving because investors are anticipating troubled waters ahead and wanted to lower their exposure to the company's paper. The bank debt has fallen from the 94 1/2 to 96 1/2 level where traders had quoted it last week.

Apria Healthcare is reportedly looking for a 100 basis points cut on it's $175 million "B" loan after a government investigation into the company's Medicare billing practice led nowhere. "The hot market and shortage of paper is also allowing issuers to return to the market and get cheaper deals," said a banker. Bank of America is leading the BBB-/Ba1 deal and is looking to take pricing from LIBOR plus 3% through a 100% amendment. One banker familiar with the deal said, "the government cost the company a lot of money unnecessarily."

Bear Stearns has filled the "C" tranche created for Appleton Papers,with almost all the current investor group rolling into the deal. Closing will be on Thursday, said a banker, adding no new investors were invited into the deal. Some buysiders and bankers cited the deal as a challenge, pointing out the new $115 million "C" tranche is priced 1% below the existing "B," which offers a spread of LIBOR plus 4 1/4%. The original credit launched last year had to overcome concerns that Appleton operates in a sunset industry, at a time when the buyside was gun shy about committing to all but the defensive credits on offer (LMW, 8/10).