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A week which began nervously in Tokyo - with a redefinition of the expression "it'll end in tears" - appeared to send out conflicting signals about whether or not a watershed had been reached in the international syndicated loans market. By yesterday some London-based bankers were expressing the view that pricing for most borrowers, in developed as well as emerging markets, had now bottomed out.

Bookrunner Morgan Stanley Dean Witter this week successfully overcame worldwide uncertainty in stockmarkets to complete the $704m offering of stock in Benckiser, the household cleaning products company. The deal was one of the largest IPOs ever launched from the Dutch equity market and follows on from sales for New Holland, Vendex and Ispat.

Syndication closed this week on the Ffr10bn multicurrency revolving credit launched by Réseau Ferré de France (RFF), which owns and manages France's railway infrastructure. The syndication, which bankers describe as having been a great success, follows the recent Ffr60bn Cades facility which was oversubscribed by around 100%, leaving many lenders hungry for more top-notch French assets.

India American Express Bank has been mandated to arrange a $26.5m fundraising for Applicomp India Ltd, a manufacturer of compressor motors for refrigerators.

A potentially huge new asset class was opened in the US this week as Morgan Stanley brought the first securitisation of utility stranded costs for Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Encouraged by the federal government, US states are beginning to deregulate public utilities, particularly electricity suppliers. Many electricity companies incurred costs as a result of operating as regulated monopolies, which will put them at a disadvantage against new entrants to the market. Typically these liabilities are contracts to buy power at above market rates from nuclear and renewable generators.

US and overseas investors jumped at their first chance to buy a term debt securitisation of film revenues as Chase and Bear Stearns brought a $325m deal for Steven Spielberg's new DreamWorks studio two weeks ago. Details only emerged this week about the 144A private deal. A CapMAC guarantee lent the bond a triple-A rating. It pays 22bp over three month Libor with an expected average life of 3.3 or 4.3 years.

Comptoir des Entrepreneurs launched an innovative triple-A rated funding vehicle last Friday with Ffr2.1bn of bonds split between the French domestic and Euro-French franc markets. The vehicle, Vauban Mobilisations Garanties, is the first issuer of mortgage backed securities in France registered as a company rather than a fonds commun de créances (debt mutual fund).

A SECOND $500m Libor/T-Bill passthrough note for the Banco Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) was being primed for launch by ING Barings as Euroweek went to press. Similar to the bank's recent one year passthrough deal issued in August, it provides a much needed boost to reserves at a critical juncture in the completion of the Philippines six year programme under IMF supervision.

THE REVISED GDR offering from Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) remained in the balance following the onset of formal roadshows this week, with looming political instability posing a serious threat to the $375m issue. After the cancellation of the partial privatisation of Gail (Gas Authority of India) at the end of October and the drawn-out saga that became the government's sell-down of VSNL (Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd), bankers commented that the Indian government was showing every sign of failing to get luck on its side for the third consecutive equity sale.

A $200M YANKEE issue for poultry and feed producer PT Sierad Produce, which bankers say will come to the market imminently, is expected by many to top the 911bp spread recently forced on Thailand's Advance Agro. The Sierad deal will have a similar 10 year maturity, and will be led by Deutsche Morgan Grenfell -- which commented that rumours of the deal's impending launch are premature.

THE PRIMARY market for Hong Kong and mainland Chinese issuers stuttered back to life this with the launch of a poorly received IPO for property group Lai Fung Holdings and premarketing of China's third window company, Tianjin Development. Books for a 280m share offering by the Chinese property arm of Lai Sun Development led by Crédit Lyonnais will close today (Friday), with syndicate bankers reporting a completed book in the face of widespread market scepticism.

WESTPAC inaugurated its second Australian asset backed CP conduit this week with an A$40m issue from Wisdom Prime Asset Trust No 1. The conduit, rated A-1+ by Standard & Poor's, will repackage Australian mortgage backed securities and corporate bonds rated at least AA-.