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Global co-ordinator Goldman Sachs convened a syndicate meeting yesterday (Thursday) for the forthcoming international sale of shares in Chunghwa Telecom. Bankers in Hong Kong say premarketing will begin next week and that the deal should launch shortly after the Chinese new year. Chunghwa Telecom made its debut on the Taiwanese stock market last year at NT$104 per share. The issue was widely ignored by employees, retail buyers and institutions due to a combination of political and market uncertainties which helped the Taipei market collapse more than 50% in 2000.

South Korean airline Asiana successfully closed the first Korean future flow securitisation on December 29 with a $65m ticket receivables deal lead managed by Chase Manhattan. The single tranche of OZ Receivables plc Series 2000-1 is backed by future and present dollar denominated revenues from ticket sales in the US.

Globals

The long awaited deal for Newmond's leveraged buy-out of Baxi was launched into the market on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and SG underwrote a £482m debt package to support the LBO, which is one of the first in the leveraged market this year.

The first big equity issue of 2001, the IPO of mobile phone operator Orange, benefited from two strokes of good fortune this week. The US Federal Reserve unexpectedly cut interest rates by 50bp on Wednesday, injecting a much needed dose of hope into global stock markets. Then, yesterday (Thursday), Orange announced record breaking new subscriber figures for the last quarter of 2000. The two factors could mean that the deal, which Orange CEO Hans Snook had wanted to complete in 2000, could now be better coming this year.

The first big equity issue of 2001, the IPO of mobile phone operator Orange, benefited from two strokes of good fortune this week. The US Federal Reserve unexpectedly cut interest rates by 50bp on Wednesday, injecting a much needed dose of hope into global stock markets. Then, yesterday (Thursday), Orange announced record breaking new subscriber figures for the last quarter of 2000. The two factors could mean that the deal, which Orange CEO Hans Snook had wanted to complete in 2000, could now be better coming this year.

Belgium

Westfälische Hypothekenbank AG opened the jumbo Pfandbrief market this year with a Eu500m three year Öffentlicher Pfandbrief, jointly led by Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, HypoVereinsbank and UBS Warburg. BfG Hypothekenbank also launched a Eu350m Pfandbrief floater via Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. Jürgen Klebe, head of investor relations at WestHyp, said he was happy with the pricing. "The transaction was strongly retail driven by investors in central Europe and we swapped the paper into floating rate notes at swaps minus 2bp," said Klebe.

Westland/Utrecht Hypotheebank has kicked off the New Year with a four-year A$8 million ($4.48 million) trade which pays a final coupon of 5.2%. The note will be issued on 18 January 2001. It is the bank's first Australian dollar issue in 2000 and 2001 and only their second four-year note after its Kr1 billion trade ($27.08 million), which was issued on 22 September 2000. The note pays a final coupon of 6.5%.

Germany The blackout period for the Deutsche Börse IPO begins on Wednesday next week. The stock exchange, which announced strong third quarter figures before Christmas, is expected to list at the beginning of February.

JP Morgan and SG are expected to launch a Eu5bn acquisition financing for Pernod Ricard in the next two weeks. The jumbo facility is expected to be just one of a number of large loans from France in the first quarter, promising a good start to the year. Diageo and Pernod Ricard finally won the protracted bidding contest for Seagram's spirits division at the end of December 2000. The two paid $8.15bn for the business.

Jackson National Life has started its 2001 funding campaign with a five-year $25 million trade and a six-year euro24 million ($23.49 million) deal. The five-year note is a floater that will be issued on January 17. The euro-denominated note pays interest annually and has a final coupon of 1.25%. Four other gics have already started issuing this year continuing the success of the sector in finding funds from the MTN market. Premier Funding International has issued a euro30 million FRN via Lehman Brothers and AIG SunAmerica has issued three notes, one in yen and two in US dollar.