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* Republic of Austria Rating: Aaa/AAA

The loan for mobile telephony firm H3G Italia, Hutchison Whampoa's majority owned Italian subsidiary, is in the final stages of completion. Following a long negotiation period, the borrower has been applauded in the market for tackling head on a downturn in sentiment towards mobile telecoms loans, by structuring a deal that comprises a mixture of full and non-recourse finance.

The Kingdom of Thailand is to invite five banks to submit proposals for a $300m equivalent Samurai bond issue, a decision that could result in the first public international transaction from the sovereign for over four years. Bankers familiar with Thailand's plans said the sovereign wanted to issue the three tranche deal by mid-November. However, some Japanese bankers expressed doubt over the plans, noting that difficult market conditions and the conservative outlook of Japanese investors will pose challenges to the launch.

Taro Pharmaceuticals, the Israel-based drugs company, has completed its $197m secondary share offering. A banker close to the deal said that the issue was the first fully marketed equity deal to be sold after the US attacks. Taro actually started marketing the deal on September 3, but rather than abandoning the deal after the attacks it opted to continue roadshowing in Europe to try to get the issue done.

Thames Water Utilities has axed three of the appointed dealers off its $4 billion debt issuance programme dealer panel. The dropped dealers are ABN Amro, Morgan Stanley and UBS Warburg.

TNG Energy, the Germany-based Energy group, is putting plans in place for an IPO next year. The company is based in Germany but is a joint venture between Itera, the number two Russian gas company, and SWGI, a group of Russian investors. A spokesman for the company was keen to explain to EuroWeek that it wanted to take advantage of the fact that it was based in Germany. The company intends to list in Germany and therefore get away from the volatility that affects many Russian companies. "We are moving away from valuing this as a Russian company," said the spokesman.

Turkey appears to have struck a deal with the IMF and bilateral lenders, reaping the rewards of its new strategic importance. It looks increasingly unlikely to tap the international markets again this year, and Eurobond issuance plans for 2002 have also been revised downwards, to $3bn from $4.7bn. Following discussions between economy minister Kemal Dervis and the IMF in Washington earlier this month and a meeting with ambassadors of the G7 countries yesterday (Thursday) to plead for bilateral support, $9bn of additional money will be made available to the republic.

Crossair's share price tumbled this week after UBS Warburg and Credit Suisse Group said that their rescue package did not involve enough financing to turn the company around. "The total capital requirement is likely to be a multiple of the amount of the proposed rescue package," said UBSW in a statement on Wednesday.

American Electric Power (AEP) is acquiring the Fiddler's Ferry and Ferrybridge coal fired power plants from Edison Mission for £650m. The deal will be financed through a combination of short term and non-recourse debt. Banks close to AEP include ABN Amro, Bank of America, Bank of New York, Barclays and Citibank/Schroder Salomon Smith Barney. These banks arranged a $2.5bn one year revolver for the firm in May of this year.

As the number of new LBO loans launched grinds to a halt, research has been published by Royal Bank Private Equity (RBPE) underlining the uncertainties facing the UK buy-out market. In a joint press release with Unquote UK Watch, RBPE points to a dip in the price to earnings ratio of deals above £10m, "reaching just under 11 by October 2001, compared with in excess of 12 or 13 for most of the previous five year period."

Standard Bank London launched the $20m club loan for Alfa Bank into general syndication on Wednesday. Banks have been invited to join the deal for tickets of up to $1m.

Sachsen LB Europe has made several dealer changes to its euro5 billion ($4.51 billion) Euro-MTN programme. Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and Nomura have been dropped, while Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank and Mizuho have been appointed as dealers.