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France Télécom hammered out an agreement at a bank meeting in Paris on Wednesday, attended by a group of 17 banks, for a Eu15bn loan to refinance the Eu30bn credit it signed last year for the acquisition of Orange. The mandated arrangers and bookrunners of the jumbo are five of the six banks that led last year's credit - Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, CSFB and SG.

Compagnie de Credit Mutuel de Bretagne this week signed a euro3 billion ($2.66 billion) Euro-MTN programme, using HSBC as the arranger. It is the ninth programme that has been signed by a French issuer this year, making France the fourth-busiest country in 2001 in terms of Euro-MTN programme origination. The UK comes first with 14 facilities signed. It is the fifth programme that HSBC, or its Singaporean subsidiary, has had a hand in arranging, and the second in the space of two weeks (see MTNWeek, issue 256). The dealers off Compagnie de Credit Mutuel's new facility are thought to include the arranger, the issuer, ABN Amro, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank.

France Télécom hammered out an agreement at a bank meeting in Paris on Wednesday, attended by a group of 17 banks, for a Eu15bn loan to refinance the Eu30bn credit it signed last year for the acquisition of Orange. The mandated arrangers and bookrunners of the jumbo are five of the six banks that led last year's credit - Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, CSFB and SG.

Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch took advantage of perfect market conditions this week to complete a well received Eu250m exchangeable issue. The three year notes were issued by Franz Haniel, a privately owned German diversified holdings business, and exchangeable into Gehe, the German healthcare company. The issue is a timely response to complaints from outright convertible investors that the market has been swamped with large issues in liquid stocks that were designed with only hedge funds in mind.

Huntington has dropped Deutsche Bank as a dealer off its $2 billion programme for the issuance of debt instruments. Goldman Sachs has been added to the panel.

Hysan, the Hong Kong property developer, is set to sign a $1 billion Euro-MTN programme on December 7. The facility has been joint-arranged by Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. The signing of the programme further boosts the real estate sector following the signing of HVB Real Estate's euro25 billion ($22.25 billion) Euro-MTN programme last month. And issuance in the sector has been particularly strong since September, considering the relatively small number of real estate issuers - just eight. Collectively they have raised $757.03 million. Unibail, the most frequent issuer in the sector, has seen its issuance soar since September 11 (see MTNWeek, issue 257). Mitsui Fudosan International Capital closed a ¥4 billion ($32.51 million) note and fellow Hong Kong issuer, Sun Hung Kai Properties Capital Market, has also been active since September. One dealer spoke to MTNWeek last month and said: "The real-estate sector has proven itself by holding in the market very well in an unsettled period." The dealer panel comprises the arrangers, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank (also the IPA), Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank and UBS Warburg.

British Land, the UK's third largest property company, this week launched the long awaited £825m whole business securitisation of the Meadowhall shopping centre near Sheffield. Lead managed by Morgan Stanley, RBS Financial Markets and Schroder Salomon Smith Barney, the deal is the second sterling denominated UK commercial mortgage backed securitisation this week, following the £547m European Loan Conduit 8, also arranged by Morgan Stanley.

Kvaerner's restructuring efforts were given a boost yesterday (Thursday) by the successful completion of a NKr2bn (Eu251m) accelerated equity issue. The capital increase, which was sold at the top of the initial range of NKr4-NKr8, will reinforce the restructuring proposals from Kvaerner's largest shareholder Aker Maritime.

Chile ABN Amro and JP Morgan are in the market with a $220m five year refinancing for Chile's third largest electricity generator, Empresa Electrica Colbun Machicura.

Several Latin American issuers are planning to make a last minute dash to the international bond markets in the next two weeks to soak up still good levels of cash among investors and exploit a continued decoupling of the asset class from Argentina's woes. Barbados has chosen Bear Stearns for a $150m 20 year bond issue at 225bp-237.5bp. The offering, rated Ba2/A-, is expected in the next few days.

Portman Building Society has decided to take some of its favourite dealers for a spin. Morgan Stanley's sporty Euro-MTN trader Frair Appleby-Walker went off to take control of the wheel on the go-karting event organized for the issuer's relationship banks. CSFB's Simon Hill was not tempted to trade his second-hand silver Ferrari in for a go-kart though. He went for a different kind of ride in Northumberland on a 17-hand-high beast. Simon had a fantastic time galloping across the moors of Northern England, but the horse had to register its protest when they got back to the stable. It stood on Simon's foot, not once, but twice, which cannot have been just an accident. The boys at Islandsbanki have had to be separated. Ingvar Ragnarsson and party man Bill Symington have led a happy funding desk in Reykjavik for some time. But Bill has now moved to London, so Leak hopes Ingvar won't get too lonely without his drinking buddy. Morgan Stanley's head Euro-MTN trader has been on tenterhooks this week. The bank has reached its fiscal year end, which means bonus time is drawing near. But Klaus Svendsen has something much more important to think about... he's about to become a father for the first time.