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7565

* Energieversorgung Niederösterreich AG Rating: Aa3/AA+

DIAGEO SIGNED its long awaited $5bn MTN programme, kicking off with a successful $500m Yankee debut issue last Friday. The programme, arranged by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, completes an array of funding tools built up since the food-to-drink giant was formed by the merger between Guinness and Grand Met. "The MTN is effectively the last plank in our strategy," said Phil Bentley, group treasurer at Diageo. He said the new company had had to repay $5bn of capital upon its merger: "Since then we have had to build a new funding platform for the company."

THE SPANISH government is preparing its next privatisation with the sale of 35% of Red Eléctrica (Redessa) in the final quarter of the year. BBV and Banco Santander are to lead manage the sale which should raise around $350m to $500m. No international firm has been appointed, suggesting that the deal will be skewed towards local retail investors. It also shows that the authorities are confident of BBV and Santander's ability to distribute Spanish equity outside the home market.

Croatia Banque Nationale de Paris, Creditanstalt and Dresdner Bank Luxembourg have launched general syndication of the DM70m three year revolving credit for HBOR.

* Kingdom of Denmark Rating: Aa1/AA+

FOLLOWING last week's successful sale of stock in Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes via Merrill Lynch, bankers say that investor confidence in the Middle East is growing. Although this week's stockmarket correction has added a general tone of caution, there should still be pockets of interest for the right story at the right price. A small trickle of new equity deals is set to emerge from the Middle East and North Africa in the coming quarter, with some transactions materialising after being postponed earlier this year.

Hungary * Pannonlizing Trading & Services Rt

FANNIE Mae created the largest single non-government bond this week when it reopened its $4bn April 2003 bonds for a further $3bn. The reopening, lead managed by Credit Suisse First Boston, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, adds a new dimension to the Benchmark Note programme which the US agency launched at the beginning of this year.

THE FIXED rate dollar market may continue in the doldrums next week, but the FRN sector will be enlivened by a $1bn five year global bond by GMAC. HSBC Markets and Lehman Brothers will be awarded the mandate today (Friday) and the issue should be launched early next week.

7547

WINNERS of the bid to arrange a £700m credit for the UK's Railtrack will be announced by the end of today (Friday). Railtrack is insisting on secrecy -- a government committee has to approve the winning banks before any official announcements can be made. However, Euroweek has learnt that four banks will jointly arrange the facility. They are likely to be Barclays, Deutsche, HSBC and JP Morgan.