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MERRILL Lynch and Merita will shortly open the books on the Finnish government's sale of stock in Sonera, the national telecom operator. Following two weeks of pre-marketing, the deal looks in relatively good shape. "This is another Swisscom," said one banker. "The company is the telephone company in Finland and will be a good story, particularly for index funds and some of the passive investors in the region."

GLOBAL co-ordinators Schroders and Powszechny Bank Kredytowy w Warszawie (PBK) will next week launch the bookbuilding period for the Polish government's sale of stock in Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA), the country's national operator. The sale has been dogged by the emerging markets crisis and London salesmen are sceptical of investors' willingness to participate. Many smaller deals from central Europe have been cancelled as vendors able to wait for more stable market conditions plan to reconsider their options next year.

Market commentary Compiled by Tawanda Nyandoro, RBC DS Global Markets, London. Tel: +44 171-653 4870

WARBURG Dillon Read has postponed the IPO for Spanish travel reservation group Amadeus Global Travel Distribution. The deal had intended to raise $400m and was pulled as the vendors of the company rejected the valuation put on their assets by the market.

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* KfW International Finance Guarantor: Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau

* Abbey National Treasury Services Guarantor: Abbey National

* Alliance & Leicester Group Treasury Guarantor: Alliance & Leicester

THE Eu550m revolving credit for Thomson SA has finally been launched to co-arrangers -- but at prices that do not reflect the harsher market environment seen since September. Although bankers had expected the pricing to be in the high 20s at least, the fees have been pared, reflecting the French state guarantee and a cancellation clause if the government relinquishes its ownership.

The £700m seven year facility for Railtrack has been reduced to £350m after the EIB and KfW committed £200m and £150m respectively. General syndication has also been launched with banks offered three levels of commitment.

United Utilities, the holding company of Norweb and North West Water, has established a $2bn Euro-MTN programme. Arranged by Deutsche Bank, the facility marks the next step in the utility's capital raising strategy following the successful launch earlier this year of three Yankee bond issues.

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