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Sonera has raised Eu185m by selling more of its stake in Deutsche Telekom (DT) through Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW). Unlike the controversial Eu1bn DT sale in August, executed by Deutsche Bank for Hutchison Whampoa, Sonera's sale was carried out in a permitted window. Sonera is allowed to sell 40% of its holding between September 1 and December 1 of this year.

Transactions increased: * European Investment Bank

Arrangers ABN Amro, CIBC World Markets, ING Bank, Nordea, Royal Bank of Scotland and WestLB have launched general syndication of the Eu1.2bn five year amortising loan for Swedish telecommunications company Tele2. Banks have been invited to participate by taking tickets of Eu35m for 85bp, Eu25m for 75bp and Eu15m for 55bp.

Assa Abloy, the Swedish lock maker, has signed a euro1.5 billion ($1.39 billion) global MTN programme. ABN Amro won the arrangership mandate and the dealers are the arranger, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Salomon Smith Barney and SEB Merchant Banking. The issuer is rated A- long term by Standard & Poor's.

International banks led by ABN Amro and DnB Markets have thrown a Nkr900m three month lifeline to Norway's struggling engineering company Kvaerner. The short term credit was originally offered to Kvaerner on September 19 as a one month facility.

Triple-A issuance continued to dominate the bond markets this week as investors remained focused on safe haven assets and the short end of the curve in the face of volatility in bond and swap spreads. Following $10bn of supply from Freddie Mac, the IADB and the World Bank last week, triple-A volume from agencies, sovereigns and supranationals will this week top $12.5bn, with deals from Fannie Mae, EIB, Federal Farm Credit, KfW, Republic of Austria and BNG.

Globals * Bristol-Myers Squibb Co

US dollar was littered with triple- and double-A borrowers. The short end remained weak and just two borrowers closed two- and three- month notes. Statoil closed a $300 million two-month trade and Deutsche Bank issued a $30.47 million three-month deal. State borrowers propped up the mid-term sector. Province of Buenos Aires closed a $75 million five-year note. And Republic of Austria closed a fixed rate $500 million note that matures in December 2006. It pays a 4.5% coupon annually and the issuer swapped it into euro. ABN Amro is the bookrunner. Other borrowers in this sector were Merrill Lynch with a $4.55 million three-year note and SGA with a $15 million six-year trade. The longest trades went out to 2011 and the issuers were Lehman brothers Treasury with a $4 million trade, CDC IXIS Capital Markets with a $9 million note and KfW International Finance with a $100 million deal.

US dollar saw some big volumes from Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten and World Bank, but on the whole notes were between $5 million and $30 million. SNS Bank Nederland (SNS Bank) closed a $10 million five non-call-two trade via Barclays Capital. The note pays a fixed coupon of 4.25% semi-annually for the first two years. It is callable at par on October 2 2003 and thereafter it pays a fixed coupon of 5.40% semi-annually. SNS Bank swapped back to euro. Caisse Centrale du Credit Immobilier de France - 3CIF has announced an eight-year $10 million equity index-linked trade, due to be settled on October 22. The note was done through Credit Suisse First Boston and is benchmarked to the Nikkei225 index. The issuer will pay a coupon of either 7.6% or 5.6% according to a strike level on the Nikkei225 index on the issue date.

Overall volumes were down, with just 36 notes issued in total following the national holiday in Japan yesterday. And US dollar was the currency of 12 trades, most of which were in the mid term. Credit Agricole Indosuez issued a $10 million trade at the short end, which matures on December 28. SGA was also at the short end with a $10 million three-month note. Morgan Stanley's financial repackaged vehicles, ELAN and Fairway Funding, issued two- and three-year notes, both for $10 million and both settling on October 16. ELAN's trade pays a final coupon of 11.350%, while Fairway Funding's note pays 10%. HSBC Bank USA closed three small trades that all go out to 2005 with a total volume of $3.2 million. Westpac Banking Corp closed a five-year $50 million note via Barclays Capital. The note, which is fixed-rate, is callable at year two and pays a final coupon of 4.250%. Rabobank Nederland closed a $10 million range accrual note via Salomon Smith Barney. The note pays a fixed rate of 7% and payment is linked to the number of days on which 3m $libor falls between 3% and 7%. The note is callable every six months.

Investors kept to smaller volumes fro US dollar and the 13 trades announced made up just under 4% of the total market. Nothing was done at the short end and Dorada Corp issued the shortest-dated trade, a $25 million one-year note. And, as dealers have been quick to point out for the past week or so, there is a lot more inquiry for higher rated paper. Only issuers rated single-A or over were in demand. A3-rated HSBC Bank USA was the lowest rated issuer with two four-year deals for $1.5 million and $340,000. Nationwide Building Society closed a $10 million three-year range accrual note via Lehman Brothers. Interest is paid quarterly and is calculated on each day that 3m $Libor plus a margin falls below 6%, divided by the number of days when this happens. Rabobank Nederland also issued two $10 million range accrual notes, both with a tenor of 10 years. The trades were done through Morgan Stanley. One note was a non-call-six and pays a fixed rate of 8.125% and the other is a non-call-one and pays a fixed rate of 8.25%. The fixed rate for both trades is calculated on the number of days during the coupon period that 3m $Liobor falls between 0% and 7%, divided by the total number of days in the coupon period. Both deals are callable semi-annually after the initial call option. And Landeskreditbank Baden-Wurttemburg closed a $20 million 10-year non-call-one note, callable semi-annually thereafter. Salomon Smith Barney was the bookrunner and the interest is linked to 6m $Libor capped at 7.5%.

Vivendi Universal has monetised its Eu4.2bn stake in BSkyB through a complicated structure with Deutsche Bank, to comply with European Commission requirements relating to its merger with Seagram. Deutsche Bank has issued a Eu4.2bn loan to Vivendi, secured by the French group's 22.7% stake in BSkyB. Deutsche Bank has become the owner of the shares, and owns the voting rights attached to them. It paid market value for the stake.