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The International Mutlifoods deal set to be launched by early this month has lenders champing at the bit, eager to get at a deal most consider strong relative to what is out there. One banker looking at the deal noted that lead lenders UBS Warburg and CIBC World Markets could cut pricing and the credit would still probably blow out. The banks will hold a bank meeting to launch syndication of the $450 million deal for the Minnetonka, Minn.-based food company. John Byom, cfo, did not return calls.

Imperial Capital, a high-yield boutique based in Beverly Hills, is seizing upon securities industry consolidation and cutbacks to expand its sales and trading roster. Its most recent pickup is Scott Siemers, who joined the firm's New York sales team earlier this month as senior v.p. He was a senior junk trader at J.P. Morgan, until he was let go after Morgan merged with Chase Manhattan. Siemers reports to Steve Hornstein, a former head of the high-yield trading desk at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.

ABN Amro this week launched a A$150m securitisation of its own office in Sydney - the new Aurora Place development, which includes the ABN Amro Tower. The deal is the latest in a spate of property securitisations in Australia, where real estate investors began last year to find the capital markets an attractive source of leverage.

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter on Tuesday privately placed a repackaged Samsung Electronics convertible issue on behalf of Apple Computer, the former owner of the bonds. The repacked bonds sold out in just 1-1/2 hours and the issue was more than eight times covered. In 1999, Apple invested $100m in Samsung in the form of a three year convertible bond with a 2% coupon and a yield to maturity of 5%. The bonds were originally structured as public securities to allow subsequent distribution to institutional investors. As part of the agreement, Apple was unable to sell the bonds for one year after purchase. This lock-up expired in July 2000 and, following the recent slowdown in demand for PC products, Apple chose to eliminate its financial exposure to Samsung Electronics.

Should an issuer whose shares have crashed nearly 80% in the past year err on the side of caution when raising new funds? The answer is almost certainly yes, but lead manager Merrill Lynch ran into criticism this week that the $500m SEC registered convertible bond it arranged for Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing was far too cheap. Merrill gave investors a pleasant Monday morning surprise when the firm launched a $350m convertible bond for Chartered. By Wednesday the bank had completed the deal at $500m with the books more than 10 times covered. There is also a $75m greenshoe.

Citibank this week priced the fifth and sixth securitisations of its Australian residential mortgages through its Compass Master Trust programme. Each deal was worth A$130m. Orders were strong enough for lead manager Salomon Smith Barney to price the issues inside the anticipated range and one day early.

Following Singapore Telecommunication's (SingTel) successful bid for Cable & Wireless Optus this week, the company stirred market contention when it revealed its plans on payment options to Optus shareholders, including an international bond issue. SingTel's bid, which still depends on minority shareholder approval from Optus, valued the Australian mobile phone operator at about A$17.2bn ($8.4bn). Analysts estimate that the Singapore-based telecoms company has cash of about $3bn on hand, leaving a financing gap for the acquisition. Optus is the second largest mobile telephone operator in Australia.

Hong Kong Pacific Century Cyberworks (PCCW) announced a total

Australia Bankers in Australia were disappointed to learn that the government has decided that a trade sale will achieve more than an IPO for Sydney Airports.

US-based Heller Financial arranged a A$350m bond issue in quiet Australian markets this week, taking advantage of continued good demand. The two tranche deal due in 2003 was split between a A$250m fixed rate tranche and a A$100m floating rate note (FRN) tranche. Due to demand the fixed rate tranche was increased in size from the original size of A$200m.

Deutsche Bank yesterday (Thursday) completed a $180m convertible bond issue for Taiwanese D-ram manufacturer ProMos Technologies, pricing the deal a day earlier than expected following strong demand. There is also a $20m greenshoe. The five year notes carry a zero coupon, a conversion premium of 17.5% (15%-20% indicated) and a two year put at 110.86% (109.22%-110.83% indicated), to yield 100bp over Treasuries. There is also a two year call subject to a 135% trigger. Deutsche estimated the bond floor at around 94.5 and the implied volatility at 23.

The market has reacted negatively to the decision by the UK's Cable & Wireless (C&W) to sell its Australian unit, Optus, to Singapore Telecommunications. At the time of the announcement the stock and cash offer was worth between A$14.9bn and A$16.1bn. But within days, the value of the offer had shrunk to between A$13.5bn and A$14.2bn as SingTel shares plunged 14% to an all-time low of S$1.88. Since the deal was made public - before the market opened on Monday - shares in SingTel plummeted 22%.