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THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank is set to announce plans for the creation of a sterling dealer group before the end of the year in a move the supranational hopes will place it in pole position to take advantage of the Gilts shortage.

EL SITIO, an Argentine-based internet network, stunned the Latin equity new issue market yesterday (Thursday) with a blow-out $131.2m initial public offering, by far the most successful IPO from the region in several years. The company's 8.2m ADSs were priced at $16 on Thursday evening, above the $13 to $15 price range, which was itself increased on Thursday morning from an original $11 to $13 range.

Argentina * Republic of Argentina

Chase Manhattan has won the mandate to arrange a Nkr2bn eight year facility for Enitel, a Norwegian telecoms network operator that is making the next move in the restructuring of the Nordic telecoms sector by buying Telia Norge. The target is owned by Swedish state telecoms operator Telia. Once the acquisition has gone through, the new company will be the main competition for Nelenor, the Norwegian state owned telecoms operator.

* Bikuben Girobank A/S - BG Bank Rating: A2

GOLDMAN SACHS will today (Friday) send out documentation to banks that have committed as co-arrangers in the £675m loan supporting the acquisition of the telecoms division of Racal Electronics by Global Crossing. Euroweek understands that four banks have already committed, but that three more are still looking at the deal and will probably join on Monday.

The buoyant tone of the high yield market prompted a spate of opportunistic funding this week as Europe's speculative grade telecom companies rushed to take advantage of the continuing liquidity in the market. Market veteran Colt Telecom and Spanish start-up Jazztel both priced high yield bonds concurrently with equity offerings (see equity section) in the hope of capitalising on the renewed positive sentiment sweeping the telecom sector following Mannesmann's takeover of Orange and Newtel's bid for Esat.

The capital markets’ infatuation with fast growing telecom companies was graphically underlined this week when Eu2.125bn was raised by three operators — Versatel, Jazztel and Colt Telecom — in just 48 hours.

GRUPO NUEVO IUSACELL (GNI), the holding company of Mexico's second largest cellular phone concern, this week issued a $225m seven year transaction, becoming the first of a handful of Latin corporates hoping to tap the dollar market before year end. The deal, led by Chase and Salomon Smith Barney, was priced at par to yield 14.25% or 804bp over Treasuries, compared with talk of 14.5%.

SPANISH telecommunications group Jazztel took advantage of the positive tone in the European high yield market this week to launch the largest ever triple-C rated offering denominated in euros. Joint lead managed by Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, the issue was initially talked at Eu150m, upped to Eu300m during price talk and emerged as a Eu400m issue on pricing. Despite being more than doubled in size the 10 year issue was priced at the tight end of the price range, due to the strong demand generated by the transaction.

The capital markets’ infatuation with fast growing telecom companies was graphically underlined this week when Eu2.125bn was raised by three operators — Versatel, Jazztel and Colt Telecom — in just 48 hours.

ABN Amro Rothschild will launch one of the earliest new issues in France next year with the Eu150m sale of stock in Kaufman & Broad, the home building and construction group. The company, which is a subsidiary of a US listed group of the same name, is well known within the domestic market. The deal will involve the sale of both new shares by the company and secondary shares by the parent group and will result in a full market listing in the main market.