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* Allgemeine Hypothekenbank AG Rating: Aa1/AAA/AAA

The Republic of South Africa has closed a 20-year yen trade, its second trade this year. The ¥30 billion ($251.7 million) note is non-syndicated and pays a final coupon of 3.8%. In April the borrower issued a euro500 million ($424.2 million) seven-year syndicated trade. Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch were the joint lead managers.

KPN's share price fell heavily this week on speculation that the Dutch telco is considering a Eu5bn rights issue. In the wake of British Telecom's £5.9bn right issue, which is in the market, investors showed their reluctance for a similar deal for KPN by selling the stock in vast quantities. The speculation showed the level of uncertainty with which investors now view the company, in the face of its huge Eu23bn debt pile and inability to carry out the asset sales that it promised it would execute.

The South African domestic market passed another milestone in the development of its corporate bond sector with a popular R1.2bn (Eu176m) five year deal by the Harmony Gold Mining Company. The issue, the first ever from a mining company, was launched this week via JP Morgan. A banker in the syndicate said the main concern for the bookrunner was pricing, and that JP had done a sterling job to convince borrower's and investors.

RTL Group, the Luxembourg-based broadcaster, is due to sign a euro1 billion ($849.2 million) Euro-CP shelf. Moody's has assigned an A3 long-term issuer rating and a P-2 short-term debt rating.

After a quiet week, the European convertible market bounced back with the launch of five new issues over the past few days. One was the Eu412m multi-tranche exchangeable bond for Societa Assicuratrice Industriale (SAI), the Italian insurance company, led by BNP Paribas and Mediobanca. The collection of three bonds, exchangeable into Banca IntesaBci, Assicurazioni Generali and Banca di Roma, will enable SAI to dispose of these stakes. "This is the most efficient way to raise funds at an attractive cost," said a banker close to the deal. "They are confident they won't have to pay the redemption premium."

Denmark Syndication prospects are looking good for the Eu1.5bn multi-currency revolver for Tele Danmark (TDC) following last Friday's bank presentation.

* Bremer Landesbank Capital Markets plc Guarantor: Bremer Landesbank Kreditanstalt Oldenburg Girozentrale

French catering group Sodexho Alliance launched a Eu1bn rights offering last Friday (June 1). The subscription period opened yesterday (Thursday) and will end on June 20. Shareholders in Sodexho will have a right to preferential subscription, allowing them to gain one new share for every six old shares at a price of Eu45.

Solvay is to sign a euro1 billion ($849.2 million) Euro-MTN facility in the next few days. Deutsche Bank is the arranger. Deutsche Bank will also act as lead manager on the inaugural issue off the programme, along with Fortis Bank. The trade will be a euro500 million note. The issuer, an international chemicals and pharmaceuticals group, intends to use the proceeds of the trade to refinance existing short-term borrowings. Martial Tardy, corporate press officer at Solvay, says: "We set up the programme primarily as a way of converting our short-term debt into something more economical. We are hoping that the programme will allow us to restructure our debt so that we can make it less onerous." The issue will be launched following a European roadshow that will begin next week. Anne Lenaerts, financial communications assistant at Solvay, says: "We kick off the roadshow on June 13 in Brussels and are taking it to the normal destinations - London, Frankfurt, and Milan." There are no plans to follow up the initial euro tranche. Lenaerts says: "It is difficult to say how much we are looking to raise in the programme's first year. We are really waiting to see the market's response to our roadshow and debut issue." Tardy is very happy with the A and A2 ratings assigned to the programme by Standard & Poor's and Moody's respectively. He says: "We are really hoping to take advantage of our initial ratings which make us very competitive." The MTN programme will complement Solvay's existing $500 million Euro-CP programme and its Dm750 million ($883.64 million) CP programme. ABN Amro, BNP Paribas, Fortis Bank, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Salomon Smith Barney and SG Investment Bank will join Deutsche Bank as dealers.

Diversified chemicals and pharmaceuticals company Solvay SA will in the next few weeks launch the inaugural issue off its new Eu1bn Euro-MTN programme, offering investors a rare opportunity to buy a liquid Belgian corporate issue in an undersupplied industry sector. Deutsche Bank, arranger of the MTN programme, will be sole bookrunner for the Eu500m issue, which will be in an intermediate maturity and launched after a roadshow beginning next week. Fortis Bank is joint lead.

Moody's this week commented on the draft legislation for the issuance of cèdulas territoriales, Spain's planned public sector covered bonds. The rating agency said that the new instrument may offer a marginally better loss severity cushion than existing cèdulas hipotecarias. This, combined with requirements for over-collateralisation - 70% of the eligible public book - means that Moody's could rate cèdulas territoriales issues up to three notches above an issuer's unsecured rating, but the agency stressed the lack of bankruptcy segregation features.