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The Republic of Finland's pro-active debt management and investor relations work continued to pay dividends this week as the sovereign launched another highly acclaimed offering in the international markets. The deal is a Eu6.5bn 2013 government bond - the largest ever syndicated single tranche fixed rate issue in euros. Led by ABN Amro/ Alfred Berg, Barclays Capital, Citigroup/SSSB and Nordea, the deal was heavily oversubscribed, attracting a book of Eu19.8bn at its early price guidance, and achieved broad distribution across Europe, the US and Asia. With Finland's limited funding requirements, the large issue size was made possible by a simultaneous Eu3.835m buyback of the republic's April 2006 government bond. In addition, the State Treasury allocated Eu500m of the issue to its own repo facility in order to guarantee liquidity in the secondary market.

Guarantor: Ford Motor Credit Co Rating: A3/BBB+

CSFB (bookrunner) and CIC this week launched a debt facility of about Eu450m for casino company Group Partouche to selected underwriters. The seven year amortising term loan backs the group's acquisition of Compagnie Européene de Casinos.

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA Amount: Eu5bn

Gartmore's Monthly Income Trust looks set to be the first of a string of split capital trusts in the UK to collapse as it announced this week that it was unable to pay investors their full entitlement on time. Gartmore announced in March that 77% of its shareholders had voted to redeem their holding in the Monthly Income Trust at a price of 109.4p. Since then Gartmore's board, which includes Paul Myners, the author of last year's government-backed review of institutional investment, has consulted lawyers about what consequences this will have for the other shareholders. The 23% of shareholders who have chosen not to redeem their holding early are entitled to receive 131.3p per share when the trust winds up on April 30, 2004.

The $15bn global debt facility for General Electric Capital Corporation was formally launched in Europe at a bank meeting held in London on Tuesday. The deal had been launched in New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong and was already oversubscribed by the time it hit London this week.

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA Amount: Eu1bn

Rating: Aa3/AA Tranche 1: Eu50m

A list of banks joining the Eu3bn 364 day revolver for German utility EnBW has been released. The banks are BayernLB, BNP Paribas, Citigroup/SSSB, Com-merzbank, Crédit Agricole, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, HypoVereinsbank, Helaba, Mizuho, Royal Bank of Scotland, SG, ABN Amro, BBVA, BHF, Crédit Lyonnais, LBBW, TD Securities, Bank of China, CDC IXIS, Deutsche Postbank, SMBC and Banca di Roma.

HSBC has won the mandate to arrange the leveraged buy-out facility for Boto International Holdings. The funds will finance the purchase of Boto's artifical Christmas tree and manufacturing entities by US-based Carlyle Group.

HMV Group, the UK-based media company, set the price range for its £525m IPO on Wednesday, as investors gave encouraging feedback to the deal. Despite UK press reports suggesting that the IPO will raise less than expected, HMV Group is valued at exactly what bankers had forecast. The price range of 190p-220p gives HMV a valuation of £834m at the mid-point and an enterprise value of £1.1bn.

Guarantor: CLP Power Hong Kong Rating: A3/A+