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MORGAN Stanley Dean Witter is to run the books for a £1bn fund raising for the alternative telephony group, Colt. Colt's latest capital increase will combine the equivalent issue of £200m in straight equity, £200m in Deutschmark-denominated high yield debt and £200m in convertible finance. The terms on each of the equity-linked and high yield debt have not been formalised, although indicated terms will be revealed next week. The company has chosen DM-denominated vehicles as the nearest proxy to the Euro.

THE REPUBLIC of Cyprus this week launched its debut euro issue in a successful bid to convince investors of its European credentials. The deal marked only the second visit to the international bond markets by the island republic. Lead managed by ABN Amro and HSBC, the 10 year Eu350m transaction followed comprehensive roadshows.

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THE KINGDOM of Spain is expected to launch a $1bn 10 year offering today (Friday), its first dollar transaction since 1992. ABN Amro was understood last night to have won the mandate, although no official announcement had been made. Competition for the mandate was fierce, with Spanish borrowing officials looking to achieve a spread below the trading level of the Republic of Italy's $2bn 10 year launched in May.

* Metro Finance BV Guarantor: Metro AG

GOLDMAN Sachs this week launched a highly successful exchangeable bond on behalf of the City of Dusseldorf, exchangeable into ordinary bearer shares in one of Germany's leading conglomerates, RWE. The DM417.92m deal was launched through a special purpose vehicle, Dusseldorfer Stadtwerke Gesellschaft fur Beteiligungen. The five year bonds were fixed to include an annual coupon of 2.5% with an initial exchange premium of 37% over the DM98.5 Xetra close of RWE shares, or 35.22% over the DM99.80 Frankfurt close.

* L-Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

ING Barings notched up two successes this week with the sale of stock in Petroplus International, the local Dutch group which is concerned with storage, distribution and refining crude oil, and the sale of shares in Scala Business Solutions. The lead manager priced the Petroplus shares this week at the top end of the indicated price range of Dfl 22 to Dfl 27, and sold 3.4m shares to investors on a book which was more than 10 times covered by the domestic retail market alone.

* Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten Rating: Aaa/AAA

MERRILL Lynch has launched the sale of stock in EFG Hermes, the diversified Egyptian finance group, aiming to buck months of bearish sentiment toward Middle Eastern equity markets. Recent stock sales such as that for the Lebanese construction group, Solidère, have been postponed on the back of declining interest in the emerging markets; bankers hope the appearance of EFG signals a recovery in sentiment toward the region.

Argentina * Republic of Argentina

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