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Investors looking for fresh Quebecois debt will welcome the latest Canadian Euro-MTN signing. Financement-Quebec (Fin-Q), a guaranteed subsidiary of Province of Quebec (Quebec), has signed a $750 million Euro-MTN programme and is close to completing a US MTN programme of the same size. Fin-Q was set up last year as a separate legal entity from Quebec. The issuer lends to schools, hospitals and other social services. Fin-Q's programmes will be managed by the same team that oversees its guarantor's $10 billion Euro-MTN shelf. Bernard Turgeon, Fin-Q's chief executive officer, says the issuer will meet investors in North America and probably Europe in October. "It's not obvious, in these days of government downsizing, why we have created a separate entity," he says. The Canadian government has ruled that, as a public sector lender, Fin-Q should be separate. The issuer plans to raise C$1.2 billion ($810.6 million) by April 2001. So far it has raised C$225 million off domestic private placements and hopes that the two MTN programmes will help with the rest. Turgeon says: "We are going to use a maturity rarely used by the Province: the three- to five-year sector." Turgeon continues: "We also hope the Japan market will be receptive to our name. At the moment Japan is not attractive in terms of cost, but it should improve over the coming months." Merrill Lynch is the arranger off both facilities. The US MTN dealers are: Bank of America, Credit Suisse First Boston, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Salomon Smith Barney. All these houses except Bank of America and JP Morgan feature in the Euro-MTN group. They are joined by Banca d'Intermediazione Mobiliare, Bayerische Landesbank, Deutsche Bank, DG Bank, Nomura and SG. The arranger features in both dealer groups.

The European Investment Bank once again failed to impress the investment banking community with its EARN programme, choosing timing, pricing and a bidding process which market participants considered ill advised. The Eu3bn 10 year EARN was awarded as a result of a competitive bidding contest among the bank's primary dealers. A spokesman for one of them described the process as a return to the bad old days of the Marchat era. "We were sent an e-mail during the week saying that the EIB wanted Eu3bn 10 years at Euribor minus 10bp/12bp and we were asked to sign on the dotted line. We thought those days were long gone."

On Tuesday, the UK Competition Commission published the initial results of its 16 month review of the UK's supermarket industry. The report, which was expected last week, concluded that consumers are being treated fairly in a sector that is intensely competitive. "We are delighted that the Competition Commission report confirms that UK consumers need no help in making informed choices about where to shop," said Sir Peter Davis, group CEO of Sainsbury's. "The Commission indicates high levels of consumer satisfaction with what has been proved a fiercely competitive industry."

Rhodia, the French chemicals manufacturer, will sign a euro1.5 billion ($1.34 billion) Euro-MTN programme next week via Lehman Brothers. And a euro500 million five-year inaugural was announced on Wednesday, lead-managed by Bear Stearns and UBS Warburg. Elisabeth Teyssier, head of financial services at Rhodia, says the public issue is being used to get Rhodia's name known and to create liquidity, but that private issues will be considered. "We want to be ready to issue quickly in the markets when the right opportunities come along. As a new name it is important that Rhodia is known to as many investors as possible," she says. Rhodia is 27% owned by Aventis, the chemicals producer formed in 1998 by the merger of French Rhone Poulenc and German Hoechst. Dealers include Bear Stearns, BNP Paribas Group, CCF, Deutsche Bank, Fortis Bank, Natexis Banques Populaires, UBS Warburg and the arranger. Rhodia is rated BBB+ and Baa1 by Standard & Poor's and Moody's.

Rio Tinto, the world's largest mining corporation, has signed a $2 billion Euro-MTN programme. This is the first time that a mining company has entered the market since 1996. The facility, which was scheduled to be finalised in November, signed via Morgan Stanley Dean Witter on December 22, 1999. The issuer was last seen in the public Euromarket when it launched a $300 million fixed rate five-year note, via its Canadian subsidiary. The issuer was criticized at the time by some dealers for failing fully to sell its name. But Ian Ratnage, Rio Tinto's head of treasury, insists marketing is a priority. He says: "Our rating will be an important factor. We are the only double-A rated mining company." The borrower carries long-term ratings of Aa3 from Moody's and double-A- from Standard & Poor's. There are no plans for a roadshow but Ratnage, at Rio Tinto, says: "We are going to spend some time with our dealers educating them about Rio Tinto. We hope to activate the programme once we have done that." No public inaugural deal is expected and Ratnage says that dealers will have to fight to lead manage the first private deal. All types of notes will be considered. Ratnage says: "We are agnostic as to which currency we issue in as long as we can swap it back into dollars. We intend to be as opportunistic as possible to hit our aggressive targets." Ratnage refused to name any ideal pricing level or funding target but said that it was very unlikely that Rio Tinto would hit its $2 billion issuing ceiling. The dealers are ABN Amro, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, JP Morgan, Salomon Smith Barney and the arranger.

The Republic of Romania hopes to announce today (Friday) the lead managers for a five year euro denominated transaction, once the competitive bidding war reaches its climax. It will follow the B3/B-/B- Eu150m three year deal from the republic, lead managed last month by Deutsche Bank. The transaction represented the country's return to the international capital markets after a three year absence.

Crédit Agricole Indosuez Lazard will manage the sale of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain's Eu500-Eu600m stake in Essilor, the world's leading corrective lens manufacturer. The 32% stake will be sold in a two-part transaction, including the sale of around 22% of Essilor, worth Eu500-Eu600m. Essilor will purchase the remaining 10% of Saint-Gobain's stake at the market determined price.

The$150m debut for Sasol Financing will close oversubscribed. The five year deal sets a tenor benchmark for South African deals. Sasol is the first South African borrower to syndicate a facility with a five year tenor. The past year has seen 13 borrowers from the region come to market seeking financing for one to three years.

Iceland LB Kiel has closed the four year revolver for SPH Bank at $10.5m - short of the launch amount of $20m. The deal paid 35bp over Libor with an undisclosed front end fee. The arranger said the lack of bank lines for smaller Icelandic banks accounted for the shortfall.

Arrangers are closing the $180m pre-export financing for Russian oil company Sibneft today (Friday). Seventeen banks are supporting the deal. It is one of the largest deals to go to full syndication in the past two years both in terms of size and the number of banks in the lending group. The facility is also the biggest structured trade financing in Russia this year.

Snap-on, a US power tools maker, will increase the ceiling off its euro200 million ($173.97 million) Euro-CP programme to euro400 million on October 26.