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Optical technology company Corning intends to launch a dual tranche offering of convertible debt and common stock to help finance the acquisition of 90% of Optical Technologies USA (OT) from Pirelli SpA. As well as offering 30m new shares of common stock, Corning will raise around $1.2bn through a zero coupon convertible transaction via lead manager Goldman Sachs.

* General Electric Capital Corp Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

Deutsche Telekom is about to sign a $20 billion Euro-CP programme. Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank are the arrangers and it is rumoured that the US dealers will be Chase Manhattan, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Euro dealers are rumoured to be Citibank, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank.

Previous successes for internet security companies' listings may help DICA Technologies in its Eu80m-Eu94m Neuer Markt IPO. Schroder Salomon Smith Barney is sole bookrunner for the deal, which began on Tuesday. DICA is offering 3.35m shares, of which 450,000 make up the greenshoe, at Eu24-Eu28 each. 75% will be capital increase. Assuming the greenshoe is exercised, the freefloat will represent 26% of the company.

Spanish publishing company Recoletos made a disappointing debut on the Madrid stock exchange this week, despite pricing its Eu304m IPO below the bottom of the price range. Goldman Sachs and BSCH were forced to set the price at Eu12 from a range of Eu12.75-Eu15 when institutional investors did not come into the deal in the numbers expected. A banker connected to the sale said that an unofficial price range of Eu11-Eu13 had been set in the days before bookbuilding finished.

German engineering group Rheinmetall AG has mandated Commerzbank and Dresdner Kleinwort Benson as joint bookrunners of its inaugural Eurobond, which is expected to be a Eu300m five year offering. Roadshows will begin next week with launch likely in mid-November. Proceeds from the transaction will refinance Rheinmetall's existing bank debt, as well as its acquisitions last year of Swiss air defence company Oerlikon Contraves and US piston manufacturer Zoellner.

Dollar swap spreads moved in a tight range this week. The 10 year traded in a range of only 3bp-4bp, between 110bp and 114bp. It closed yesterday (Thursday) in the middle of that spread, at around 112bp. The five year was at around 94bp, with the 30 year swap at 110bp.

Portugal's securities market regulator is investigating share trading in Electricidade de Portugal (EDP) in the wake of the completion of the company's Eu1.61bn secondary offering this week. The investigation is seeking to discover whether some investors sold large numbers of EDP shares to make them cheaper ahead of the deal which priced on Monday. In the four trading sessions before the offer was priced EDP shares fell almost 10%.

BNP Paribas is managing a capital increase of 2.25m shares for its property unit Klepierre in a deal to raise Eu250m to finance the recent purchase of shopping malls from Carrefour. The sale, which has Credit Suisse First Boston and JP Morgan as co-lead managers, will increase the freefloat of the company from 39% to around 51%. There is a greenshoe of 250,000 shares.

While corporate bond markets continued to trade in erratic fashion this week, large benchmark transactions were successfully executed, proving that the right deals at the right price can overcome market turbulence. In dollars, IADB scored a success with a $1bn increase to its June 2003 global bond, bringing the total size to $3bn, making the deal the supranational's largest global to date. The issue was ideally suited to increased investor demand for short end, high quality assets and the historically high spread of 6bp-7bp over three year agencies made this bond a strong buy for central banks and other high quality investors in the US, Europe and Asia. American Express was also able to reap the benefit of investor liquidity and lack of supply. Its $500m five year global bond, placed largely in the US, attracted buyers looking for a solid financial name as a refuge from corporate debt. A strong order book enabled the US financial to reduce the spread on its issue from 130bp to 125bp. Fannie Mae will price 10 year and 30 year Benchmark securities on Wednesday. Joint leads are Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Salomon Smith Barney. It will be the first issue since Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's announcement of a joint package of increased disclosure and sub debt issuance. In the days following the announcement on October 19, spreads for 10 year and 30 year agency bonds tightened in 8bp and 10bp against mid-swaps, respectively. France Télécom provided the first real test of investor sentiment towards telecom debt since Italy's unsuccessful UMTS licence auction on Monday and came through with flying colours, giving much needed confidence to the beleaguered telecoms sector. Other successes were enjoyed by North West Water, which launched a Eu750m seven year bond at what was deemed a cheap level of 95bp over mid-swaps, and Hamburgishe Landesbank with its Eu1bn five year benchmark priced at 8bp over. Several transactions have been postponed until next year but the new deal flow in November will include a benchmark euro issue from ABN Amro subsidiary Bouwfonds, the company's first benchmark euro issue since it was granted a banking licence by the Dutch central bank on October 1. A fixed or floating rate issue of Eu500m-Eu1bn is expected, probably in a five year or seven year maturity. Bookrunner will be ABN Amro with Dresdner Kleinwort Benson as joint lead. Rheinmetall AG, a German automotive, electronic defence and engineering company, is set to launch its inaugural Eurobond in mid-November with Commerzbank and Dresdner Kleinwort Benson as joint bookrunners. The proposed Eu300m five year offering has been rated Baa2/BBB by Moody's and Standard & Poor's and roadshows will begin next week across Europe. Parker Hannifin Corp, rated A2/A, will start roadshows on November 6 before launching its inaugural euro deal via Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. A five year to seven year bond is expected. Islandsbanki FBA will today (Friday) launch a Eu250m two year FRN via Barclays Capital and HypoVereinsbank plus a syndicate of eight banks. It will be the institution's inaugural senior transaction since its creation in April this year from a merger between Islandsbanki and Icelandic Investment Bank. Price talk for the A2 rated deal is Euribor plus 21bp re-offered. Union Bank of Norway will launch its Eu400m-Eu500m five year floater next week via ABN Amro and UBS Warburg at a spread of 20bp area over Euribor. Banks with subordinated debt requirements are finding life more difficult. BNP Paribas successfully printed a $500m tier one deal this week but San Paolo-IMI's Eu1.1bn issue, due to be launched this week via IMI, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, has been postponed until market conditions improve. Crédit Lyonnais' subordinated dollar bond appears to have been postponed until next year and market participants question whether ING will be able to bring its $1.5bn issue through Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Banca Popolare di Milano is set to launch a Eu300m 10 year non-call five transaction via Merrill Lynch in two weeks' time.

France Télécom received a vote of confidence from continental European and UK investors this week when its long awaited Eu5bn equivalent multi-tranche euro and sterling bond was snapped up by investors eager to buy Europe’s highest rated telecoms company after roadshows that boosted confidence in the company.