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SAGESS, the institution charged with maintaining and managing a substantial part of France’s strategic oil reserves, today (Friday) announced its debut bond issue, a Eu250m-Eu300m 10 year transaction.

Pricing details on the £3bn 364 day loan for US company Schlumberger have emerged as lead arrangers BNP Paribas, Citibank/SSSB and JP Morgan and arranger Lehman Brothers prepare to launch the deal. The facility pays 30bp if the borrowing is through the parent company and 35bp if the borrowing is done through its subsidiary. The subsidiary benefits from a letter of comfort from the parent. The all-in fees are thought to be 40bp and the facility has a 364 day term-out option.

Severn Trent has issued its first dollar trade off its euro2.5 billion ($2.29 billion) MTN programme. The issue is a $20 million FRN that will be issued on March 2 2001. The issuer signed its programme in December 2000 after recent requirements were placed on UK water companies by Ofwat, the governement regulator, to cut their customers' bills while increasing their capital spending on infrastructure.

Securitas AB yesterday (Thursday) awarded SEB and Schroder Salomon Smith Barney the mandate for its forthcoming seven year benchmark in euros. Roadshows for the transaction will be conducted by two teams in London and the Netherlands on Monday, before moving to Dublin on Tuesday, Paris and Germany on Wednesday and Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki on Thursday. Launch is expected to take place by the middle of the following week.

* European Investment Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA

Standard Bank and Sumitomo Bank have been mandated to arrange a $500m two year deal for Mobile Telephone Networks (MTN), South Africa’s second GSM network operator. The deal is fully underwritten.

* CDC IXIS Capital Markets Rating: AAA/AAA (S&P/Fitch)

ThyssenKrupp AG, the German industrial group, will re-enter the bond market in March with a Eu500m five year issue. Commerzbank Securities and WestLB have been awarded the mandate as joint bookrunners. The group is active in three core areas - steel, capital goods and services - and has been streamlining its portfolio after the creation of the conglomerate in March 1999. Steel accounts for over 25% of group sales and 50% of pre-tax profits. The sector has come under pressure following the announcement by Usinor, one of Thyssen's rivals, that it would be combining operations with Arbed Group of Luxembourg and Aceralia Group of Spain to create the world's largest steel company with total sales of about Eu29bn.

* Bank Austria AG Deficiency guarantee from: City of Vienna

The leading Polish telecoms company, TPSA, has successfully distanced itself from the sickly telecoms sector to make a well received return to the international markets with a Eu500m five year offering through joint leads Deutsche Bank, Schroder Salomon Smith Barney (SSSB) and SG. Syndicate members said the deal - priced at 218bp over the Bobl - was excellent value, and could even have come a bit tighter.

Thirty year old German engineering provider Triplan announced plans today to float on the Smax index. NordLB will manage the issue, expected to culminate in a listing on March 29.

The Turkish market has been quiet over the past 24 hours, with overnight rates falling to 139% on the stock exchange, the lira strengthening back through the Tl 1m/$ level and benchmark dollar bond spreads tightening to 976bp over Treasuries.