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BRISBANE Airport Corp (BAC) is planning to raise about A$350m through a credit-wrapped domestic bond issue, following up several recent domestic bond issues after a quiet period in the market. The bond will probably have a maturity of 10 years, and will be backed by a financial guarantee from MBIA Insurance Corp. The issue is rated Aaa by Moody's and AAA by Standard & Poor's.

MERRILL Lynch scored a success with the placement of A$363m of new CSL shares last Friday, the largest share issue from Australia this year. CSL stock jumped almost 31% after the global accelerated bookbuild exercise, which raised new funding to partially finance the company's purchase of the Swiss Red Cross blood plasma unit for A$1bn.

Hong Kong Crédit Lyonnais, Hong Kong Branch issued a floating rate certificate of deposit (FRCD), raising HK$1bn through a one year tenor. The FRCD issue carries a coupon of one month Hibor plus 10bp. The issue was lead managed by BNP Paribas Oakreed and Commerz. Crédit Lyonnais is rated A2 by Moody's. The notes are issued off Credit Lyonnais' HK$5bn certificate of deposit programme.

Australia The CBA bookbuild closed late last week and resulted in the sale of 9.6m shares at A$26.50 to raise A$254m to provide cash for Colonial shareholders that opted not to swap their shares for new CBA stock. The price was a discount of 1.7% to the average price of A$26.97 on the day of pricing.

MORGAN Stanley Dean Witter has raised the price range for the China Unicom IPO, and the result of the bold move will be known later today (Friday). The new price range was set late last week because of the positive response the issue was generating around the world, according to sources close to the deal. The stock will begin trading on June 21 in New York and June 22 in Hong Kong.

The bank presentation for the Eu30bn jumbo for France Télécom is in London today (Friday). Invitations have gone out to 60 banks to join the co-arranger phase, with the mood resoundingly positive. Even aside from the keen interest shown by banks throughout the loan market, the six arrangers have good reason to feel confident about the facility, having already received commitments from about 10 banks.

The Inter-American Development Bank and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation this week took advantage of the strongest international demand for dollar product so far this year to launch benchmark globals that enhanced their profiles in the sector. The IADB launched the larger deal, a $2bn three year issue via Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs. The issue is the borrower's second benchmark dollar transaction of the year and one the borrower hopes will enhance its position among to its peers.

DOLLAR issuance continued at a furious pace this week, prompting swap spreads to tighten further. They gradually fell over the course of the week, despite pushing higher on several occasions. By the end of the week, the five year mid-market was around 97.5bp over Treasuries, while the 10 year was at 122bp over Treasuries. These prices are about 4bp-5bp tighter than last week.

India Syndication for the $180m one year financing for Oil & Natural Gas Corp, arranged by BA Asia, has closed. The deal was funded in April and participants joined via substitution certificates.

The Commerzbank-led IPO of telemarketing company Conduit, thought to raise about Eu60m, will not only make it the first Irish company to list on the Neuer Markt but will also mean it is the only company to be quoted in Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) on the sole market on which it is listed. GDRs are designed to enable companies listed on multiple exchanges to quote prices in the local currency. Conduit, however, will list on the high growth market in Germany and not on the stock exchange in its domestic market in Ireland. "While it is Irish, all its intentions are pan-European, so the Neuer Markt is the appropriate market to list on," said a banker close to the deal.

Kelda Group this week announced plans to create a mutual entity to acquire the assets of its subsidiary, Yorkshire Water, raising questions over the credit quality of bonds issued by the holding company and the utility. Kelda announced a strategic review of its business in April, since when its bonds have widened sharply. The July 2006 euro denominated issue for Yorkshire Water has widened from a low of Euribor plus 35bp early this year to around Euribor plus 81bp.