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When Heinz brought its first eurodollar transaction in two years this week, it looked to many analysts that the deal was arbitrage driven. The $300m 7% two year notes, lead managed by JP Morgan yielded 7.04% at the re-offer, or 60bp over the December 2001 Treasury. All-in the yield was 7.137%, or about 69bp over the Treasury.

POTENTIAL arrangers of the Eu180m refinancing facility for Türkiye Garanti Bankasi are awaiting news today (Friday) of the final list of top level banks. The one year term loan is due to set a benchmark for Turkish banks in the loan market this year. Pricing at the end of 1999 rose for Turkish bank borrowers, due to fears over Y2K readiness and concerns about market capacity. But price talk this week puts Garanti's margin this year below 1999 levels.

DEBUT borrower Infineon Technologies AG has awarded a mandate to Barclays Capital (books) and Commerzbank (books, facility agent) to arrange a Eu600m revolver. The borrower, which produces semiconductors, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Siemens, but is borrowing as a standalone entity. Infineon is using this transaction to establish its own group of core relationship banks as part of the company's move towards greater independence from the parent company.

Cazenove and Goldman Sachs sold a £250m placement for Pearson this week that could redefine the internet strategy of scores of media companies considering spin-off flotations. The trade, conducted on Wednesday morning, ended speculation that the UK media company would launch the first European tracking stock based on its online assets - effectively creating a company within a company - or float those assets as a separate company.

Fitch IBCA this week downgraded FILMS Plc, the innovative securitisation of revenues from an Italian film library that Merrill Lynch arranged for the Cecchi Gori media group in February 1998. The downgrade from A- to BBB- is almost unique in European structured finance, both in its severity and in that it reflects concern about the deal's fundamental creditworthiness, rather than an unrelated change in a counterparty's rating.

The Republic of Italy will today access the global dollar market for the first time since September 1993 with a $2bn five year transaction. The prestigious mandate was awarded to Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan late on Thursday. A spread in the low 50s over Treasuries is expected, leading some market participants to suggest that the deal will have a rough ride. "There is a lot of supply in five years. This adds another $2bn and, if it comes in the low 50s, it will be expensive compared to Canada which trades at 51bp over Treasuries," said a leading syndicate official.

* Hamburgische LB Finance (Guernsey) Ltd Rating: Aa1

THE MARKET was buzzing yesterday evening (Thursday) with speculation that Tesco, the UK supermarket chain, has put in place a jumbo credit facility to finance a bid for fellow retailer Marks & Spencer. Talk of a credit for Tesco has been circulating in the loan market for about three weeks. But several senior bankers have informed Euroweek of their belief that Tesco has finally secured verbal agreements with a number of lenders for a £9bn-plus credit. "It seems something is going on," said one banker last night. "We've been trying to find out whether it needs something to be done - offering our services. But we have been shunned. This could well mean that Tesco has something substantial in place from a group of lenders."

THE MARKET was buzzing yesterday evening (Thursday) with speculation that Tesco, the UK supermarket chain, has put in place a jumbo credit facility to finance a bid for fellow retailer Marks & Spencer. Talk of a credit for Tesco has been circulating in the loan market for about three weeks. But several senior bankers have informed Euroweek of their belief that Tesco has finally secured verbal agreements with a number of lenders for a £9bn-plus credit. "It seems something is going on," said one banker last night. "We've been trying to find out whether it needs something to be done - offering our services. But we have been shunned. This could well mean that Tesco has something substantial in place from a group of lenders."

TOKYO-MITSUBISHI International has hired Stafford Butt, assistant director of the securitisation group at ING Barings in London. Butt will start at TMI in mid-March as director, charged with boosting the bank's ABS business in Europe. Richard Sullivan, head of securitisation for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and non-Japan Asia, has recently recruited two others to work on European securitisation. Gianfranco Simionato moved to TMI as an associate director at the end of December - the same rank he held in Warburg Dillon Read's London asset backed finance group. Alessandro Gatto has also joined as an associate.

Dresdner Kleinwort Benson and Goldman Sachs look set to bring T Online to market in April in what will be the largest equity fundraising for a Europe-based internet company. The deal for the region's largest ISP could raise between Eu3bn and Eu5bn, dwarfing the UK's Freeserve offering of £264m, freenet's Eu106m IPO and Terra Networks' Eu794m spectacular. Controversially some analysts claim the company is likely to shun the tech-based Neuer Markt in favour of the Amtlicher Handel.

THE REPUBLIC of Turkey broke new ground in euros this week with the launch of its largest and longest dated new issue yet in the single currency. The Eu750m February 9, 2010 transaction was lead managed by Dresdner Kleinwort Benson and JP Morgan, which beat off competition from a shortlist of six bidders. "This is the de facto benchmark issue in euros for Turkey and provides the liquidity that investors were looking for," said Ian Platt, head of emerging market sovereign debt syndicate at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson.