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Reseau Ferre de France has increased its euro5 billion ($4.2 billion) Euro-MTN facility to euro10 billion. The programme is rated triple-A by Standard & Poor's and has $5.6 billion outstanding off 20 trades.

Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern told the country's parliament this week that it will be asked to approve the I£600m (Eu762m) IPO of Aer Lingus next month. The Irish airline must, however, resolve two industrial disputes with staff before the flotation can go ahead. The Irish government is expected to sell its 95% stake in the company this spring. Aer Lingus may also issue new shares. The company's staff hold the remaining 5% of the stock, and are expected to increase this to about 15%, in line with the IPO of Eircom in 1999.

Norway Commerzbank and SEB have been mandated to arrange a financing for Finans Banken. The borrowers last deal was a $180m term loan signed in October 1999. That deal was arranged by Bayerische Landesbank and Den nord Bank Markets and paid a margin of 22.5bp over Libor. The deal was oversubscribed by 80% and increased from $100m.

* Rabobank Nederland NV Rating: Aaa/AAA

* European Investment Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA

* General Electric Capital Corp Rating: Aaa/AAA

Thomson CSF, the French defence and industrial electronics firm, is planning to launch its debut euro denominated bond next week, subject to market conditions. ABN Amro and BNP Paribas have the mandate to launch the five year Eu500m-Eu750m issue. Price talk was in the plus 50bp area over swaps last week, but after the turbulence this week, the issue is likely to emerge around 2bp-3bp wider.

The utility sector has been further swelled with the signing of Tractebel's euro1 billion ($1.08 billion) global MTN programme on Wednesday, October 20. Tractebel, based in Brussels, is the fourth utility to sign this month. There are no plans to issue any notes off the programme this year as Tractebel is cash rich following the launch of a euro1.2 billion convertible bond in June. The issuer is also waiting to hear whether Suez Lyonnais des Eaux's bid for 90% of Tractebel's shares will be successful. Karina Binoye is in charge of financing at Tractebel. She explains that the issuer has signed a global programme in order to make issuing into both America and Europe easier. She says: "We wanted one set of documents for both markets." But she refused to speculate as to how much paper off the facility Tractebel hoped to sell into the US. Tractabel is unrated but Binoye says that this should not hinder investors. She says: "Tractabel is a very profitable company which is also very diversified with lots of investments abroad." The arranger is ABN Amro which joins Deutsche Bank, Fortis Bank, KBC Bank, JP Morgan and Paribas in the dealer group.

UK investors proved the mainstay of the European market this week, by continuing to take up new issues where their European counterparts appeared reluctant. Regus, N-Cipher and Collins Stewart completed IPOs and enjoyed strong performances despite the turbulent markets, while European deals such as Ono and a number of smaller IPOs were postponed.

Unilever successfully navigated one of the most volatile weeks seen in the bond market all year to price yesterday (Thursday) its long awaited $7bn multi-tranche global transaction, which was seen by syndicate officials and investors as a key test of the market’s health.

Unilever successfully navigated one of the most volatile weeks seen in the bond market all year to price yesterday (Thursday) its long awaited $7bn multi-tranche global transaction, which was seen by syndicate officials and investors as a key test of the market’s health.