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CSFB AND MPS have completed the sale of 25% of Monte dei Paschi di Siena stock. This could increase to 28% if the greenshoe is exercised and if the bonus shares are traded. The deal was a huge success with both Italian and international investors, with 261,695,000 shares sold in each tranche. A greenshoe of 52,338,000 shares is earmarked for institutional investors.

Croatia Enron Europe is to develop a $175m combined-cycle gas-fired independent power project under a 20 year power offtake agreement signed with the Croatian electricity utility, HEP.

Argentina Province of Buenos Aires

Bookrunners Credit Suisse First Boston and JP Morgan reinforced the success of the Slovak Republic's debut euro offering on Friday (June 18) with the launch of a Eu50m increase to the outstanding Ba1/BB+/BB+ rated Eu350m five year issue. Featuring a 7.5% coupon the add-on had an issue/fixed re-offer price of 98.75 to give a spread of 415bp over the 6.75% July 15, 2004 Bund - 5bp tighter than the pricing on the original transaction from early June which was trading at 98.80 and 415bp bid at the time.

ABN Amro Rothschild this week valued Van Lanschot, the Dutch investment bank, at up to Eu1bn with a price range of between Eu31 to Eu36.5. Some 26.2% of the group's equity will be sold by institutional shareholders through ABN Amro Rothschild, with preference given to existing individual investors.

FIAT, the Italian car maker, is likely to tap the global loan market for up to $4bn over the next three weeks to finance its acquisition of Case Corporation of the US.A select number of banks have been in secret discussions with the car giant over the past month about a possible syndicated loan, but no mandate has yet been awarded. However, Fiat is likely to invite banks to bid individually over the next week and it plans to push the deal through senior stages of syndication before the end of July.

FOLLOWING last week's successful flotation of Future Publishing via Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, the UK market is poised to host two more exciting IPOs. The US lead manager priced Future shares at 385p before seeing them move up to an immediate 9.35% premium. This week the shares moved up further to trade well bid at around 425p. The aftermarket support for Future shares is an encouraging sign for a market that has seen little follow-through, even for new issues that have been well bid.

CSFB, DEUTSCHE Bank, BBV, Argentaria and La Caixa have completed the IPO of Telefónica's yellow pages subsidiary, Telefónica Publicidad & Información (TPI). The deal was greeted with enthusiasm from retail and institutional investors, allowing the lead firms to price the shares at Eu15 and the stock to immediately trade up to Eu19. Some 17,075,510 shares were sold to international institutional investors with 16,378,184 going to retail and 4,094,500 sold to Spanish institutional investors. There is also a 5,364,034 greenshoe option for institutional buyers that will be executed on a 5:6 basis to international and local buyers.

Market commentary: Compiled by Jim Webber,

Huntsman ICI braved a bearish and volatile market this week to price and place its dual tranche $806m equivalent high yield bond at the tight end of price talk. But with volatile markets combining with widening secondary spreads and cash outflows from US mutual funds, not all deals met with such success and the precarious environment produced more than one casualty.

Huntsman ICI defies choppy markets to sell $800m+ high yielder

Dollar swap spreads have continued to mirror secondary corporate spreads. As the latter have firmed or softened, swap spreads have tightened or widened. On Thursday, the 10 year market was 84.75bp/85bp while five years was 70bp/71bp. Not only are swap spreads following the general direction of credit spreads, bond desks are paying fixed in the swap market to hedge unsold inventory, said dealers.