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INCREASING WILLINGNESS among US investors to go down the credit scale to pick up yield was demonstrated yesterday (Thursday) when Lockheed Martin, the US aerospace and defence concern, launched a blow-out $3bn bond offering. The transaction, led by JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, was increased from an original $2bn and involved the issuance of $750m six year bonds at 190bp, $1bn of 10 year paper at 215bp and $1.25bn worth of 30 year securities at 225bp - all at the tighter end of spread talk.

GLOBAL co-ordinator Goldman Sachs has successfully executed the sale of stock in Terra Networks, Telefonica's spin-off internet company. Shares soared this week to Eu37 on the first day after the Madrid exchange held a special auction. The shares had been priced at Eu13.

Allocation levels on the £8bn facility for Mannesmann reveal that after syndication Deutsche Bank holds a ticket worth £1.3bn, about 40% bigger than the next largest ticket. Also in the arranging group are Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, with final takes of £800m each, and Bayerische Landesbank and WestLB with takes of £700m each.

Hopes for the re-opening of the Samurai market for emerging market issuers were raised this week when the United Mexican States became the first Latin sovereign in over two years to issue Samurai bonds. The sovereign launched a ¥30bn four year offering via Daiwa, carrying a 3% coupon and priced at a fixed reoffer of 99.51 to give a spread of 220bp over Yen Libor.

Gulf Investment Corp (GIC) has signed a $160m five year term loan with arrangers Riyad Bank, Arab National Bank, Al-Bank Al-Saudi Al-Fransi, and Saudi British Bank. GIC was created in 1983 to promote economic growth and business among the Gulf Arab states.

FREDDIE MAC reached another milestone this week by issuing an inaugural $2bn 30 year global Reference Bond as a proxy for US Treasury bonds, as well as announcing it will now hold weekly internet auctions of one, two, three, six and 12 months Reference Bills. The 30 year global, led by CSFB, Lehman Brothers and Salomon Smith Barney, attracted strong US and international demand, despite being launched at a spread of 69bp, on top of Fannie Mae's 30 year issue and several basis issue points tighter than where 30 year agency paper was trading earlier in the week.

The sub-underwriting phase of the FIM1.715bn ($306m) senior debt package backing Industri Kapital's buy-out of Neste Chemicals Oy has blown out, say bankers close to the deal. Sources say nine co-arrangers have committed to the deal and that arranger Salomon Smith Barney/Citibank is considering asking Industri Kapital whether a general syndication is necessary.

n Banque Internationale à Luxembourg Rating: Aa2

n KfW International Finance Guarantor: Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau

VODAFONE AIRTOUCH plc, the world’s leading mobile telephone operator, is set to smash loan market records when it launches Europe’s largest ever syndicated credit facility to back its hostile bid for Mannesmann, the expansionist telecoms-to-engineering firm.

VODAFONE AIRTOUCH plc, the world’s leading mobile telephone operator, is set to smash loan market records when it launches Europe’s largest ever syndicated credit facility to back its hostile bid for Mannesmann, the expansionist telecoms-to-engineering firm.

The FOMC raised US interest rates this week but failed to calm the Treasury market. Although the long bond remained steady in post-FOMC trading, the yield curve flattened as traders priced in further interest rate hikes at the short end. The negative tone in the US spread to European government bond markets where investors were happy to take profits after the short lived rally which followed the ECB rate hike of last week.