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Citibank has scooped another two CP arrangership mandates, bringing the total it's signed this year to five. The latest signings bring to market the second Spanish issuer and the third American issuer of 1999. American corporate, Sara Lee, is set to sign a euro600 million ($648 million) Euro-CP facility on May 17 1999. The borrower is a major player in a variety of industries such as food and beverage, household goods and body care products. Famous labels include Douwe Egberts Coffee, Kiwi shoe polish and Wonderbra. It has operations in over 40 countries worldwide. The dealer group off the programme is to be confirmed but rumoured to include Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, JP Morgan and the arranger. It is rated P-1 by Moody's, A1+ by Standard & Poor's. Spanish retail bank, Caixa de Barcelona, signed its $1.5 billion Euro-CP programme on April 30. It follows hot on the heals of CAM Global Finance, which signed its euro6 billion Euro-CP facility last week (see MTNWeek, issue 128). The dealer panel includes Goldman Sachs, Warburg Dillon Read and the arranger.

UBS Warburg has hired seven senior bankers from DLJ, six of whom had joined the merged CSFB-DLJ firm. UBS is in talks with as many as 18 more of varying seniority who, if talks are successful, are expected to join in the spring. Richard Ng-Yow, who joined UBS Warburg's East Coast operation on Monday as a managing director, never joined the merged firm. He had been head of equity linked capital markets at DLJ, but took a package on merger day. He became head of US equity linked origination at UBS Warburg, reporting to Mark Connelly, who heads US ECM.

Securitas will use the public markets to issue the inaugural note off its euro1.5 billion Euro-MTN programme. The facility was signed at the end of November, as reported in MTNWeek, issue 208. The debut trade is not as big as Olaf Bengtsson, director of corporate finance at Securitas, said it would be when he spoke to MTNWeek at the signing. He hoped that it would be a euro500 million trade, but it is for euro350 million. The tenor is exactly as predicted, however: six-years. The coupon is 6.125%. The bookrunners will be BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank, who also act as the arrangers of the programme. This is the third large, pubic Eurobond issued off an Euro-MTN programme from a triple-B Swedish issuer since October. Electrolux launched its five-billion euro1 billion note last week and Swedish Match issued a six-year euro300 million note in October.

One of only a handful of corporate-sponsored asset-backed CP programmes in the market has been signed by Siemens this month. The euro10 billion ($9.79 billion) global programme was signed under the name of Siefunds Corp, a conduit guaranteed by the German electronics company. The US half of the programme has already been signed, while the Euro half is likely to come at the end of January 2001. Peter Rek, head of securitization at Siemens Financial Services, says: "It's a bit premature to be sure, but the feedback we've had from our dealers suggests good demand and a lot of interest. Two of them wanted more than the initial share of the first issue." The first issue was done on the signing date (December 1 2000) and amounted to $570 million. Rek expects the outstanding volume to be between $2 billion and $3 billion by the end of 2001. He is aware of only two other programmes sponsored by corporates, Redwood Receivables Corp and Edison Asset Securitization, both of which are US domestic programmes sponsored by GE Capital. Siefunds' programme is a multi-seller facility, pooling receivables from sellers inside and outside the Siemens group. Rek says: "Siemens has more than $20 billion of receivables, so this programme is a good opportunity for making the most of our balance sheet." The programme is self-arranged, and the dealers on the US part of the programme are Chase Manhattan, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch. The same dealers are on the Euro leg of the facility but are joined by Barclays Capital.

Skipton Building Society has finally signed its £

Poor prevailing conditions in the Korean domestic stock market this year has proved a hammer blow for primary issuance. The stock market has been the worst regional performer — down a dizzying 45% since January. Negative news on DRAM semiconductor prices, stalled restructuring efforts and high oil prices have conspired to kill off investor faith in the market. For a return of confidence in the Korean market to happen, more than just positive external factors are required. Richard Morrow reports.

* Commerzbank AG Rating: Aa3/AA-/A+

Gas Natural has received an A1 rating from Moody's and an A- rating from Standard & Poor's for its forthcoming Euro-MTN programme, rumoured to be signing on February 26. The grades come after months of speculation by market participants about the borrower trying to achieve a rating. Headquartered in Barcelona, Spain, Gas Natural has a share of the domestic gas supply market which amounts to over 90%. Gas Natural is internationally active in gas distribution via jointly-owned ventures in Argentina, Mexico, Columbia and Brazil. It is owned 45% by Repsol, 25% by La Caixa, with the remaining 30% being floated. Moody's says its A1 rating reflects Gas Natural's dominant position in the Spanish gas supply market, as well as the long-term protection from competition it will receive in the important residential or commercial market. The rating also takes into account the progressive liberalisation of the Spanish gas market which might gradually erode Gas Natural's domestic market share. Merrill Lynch is tipped to have won the arrangership mandate for the Euro-MTN facility, which is the borrower's foray in the international debt capital markets. The dealer group has yet to de finalised.

Iberdrola has returned to the three-year dollar sector for the first time since July. The $37 million FRN matures on December 15 2003. It is only the third time the AA-/A1 rated Spanish utility has issued in dollar, after making its debut in the currency in July. The bookrunner was HSBC. Iberdrola signed its euro3 billion Euro-MTN programme in July 1998. It has $2.19 outstanding off 17 issues. Ten different banks have acted as bookrunner for the issuer, with BBVA being the leading dealer, having placed five notes worth $820.7 million. BBVA is co-arranger of the programme alongside Deutsche Bank.

Repackaged vehicles have been feeding the surprisingly healthy appetite for 40-year euro-denominated trades. Credit-Linked & Structured Securities (CLASS), Deutsche Bank's Channel Island's SPV, returned to the 40-year sector after only a two-week break. It issued a euro2.85 million ($2.79 billion) and a euro25.23 million note. The small one has an issue date of January 5 2001 and it matures December 5 2040. The larger trade will be issued January 15 and will mature December 15 2040. The repackaging desk at Deutsche says that there is no call and the coupon is variable and linked to a pool of underlying credits. There is no principal protection. "The investors are getting a long, lumpy cash-flow," the official says. Atlanteo Capital, a Jersey-based SPV, arranged by BBVA, has sold its 11th note of the year, and its fifth 40-year trade. The euro4.15 million trade matures - like the CLASS notes - one month short of 40 years: maturity date is 25 November 2040. Interest is paid monthly.

* Inter-American Development Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA

Oxford Glycosciences priced its £150m secondary offering at a slight discount to the closing price on Thursday, with the stock gaining 5.43%. The company sold 13.36m new shares at 1275p. The stock rose strongly on its first day to close at 1357.50p. Lehman Brothers led the deal with Cazenove and Credit Suisse First Boston as co-managers.