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* Robert Fleming is poised to complete the global offering of GDRs in Banque Audi, the Lebanese retail and commercial bank. Bankers said the marketing period has gone very well, with the syndicate confident as the books are set to close today (Friday). The offer price will be announced on Monday 13 October but lead manager Flemings expects to price the GDRs at the top end of the indicative pricing range of $25-27. Syndicate members reported good orders coming in from the UK and Europe, with particularly strong interest shown by US investors. The primary shares, listed on the Beirut and Luxembourg stock exchanges, are being offered to international investors only and are 144a eligible. Each GDR will represent one share. Flemings also had the books for the successful flotation of the bank in October 1995, when they offered 2.7m GDRs at $12.60, raising a total of $34m.

THE DM5bn privatisation of German airline Lufthansa is moving into its final stages, with syndicate members confident of a smooth reception despite this week's falls in European stock markets. Yesterday's 30bp rate rise by the Bundesbank sent Frankfurt's Dax stock index tumbling by more than 2%.

FINNISH paper company Metsä-Serla priced a $300m convertible subordinated capital note issue after an oversubscription on the public tranche of 8.5 times. "We were delighted with the response," said a banker at global coordinator and book runner Salomon Brothers. "To achieve $1.6bn of demand for a Finnish convertible is probably unprecedented." The issue was designed to improve the company's capital structure by reducing financial leverage and improving its equity ratio. The Finnish Company Act was revised in September, allowing the bond proceeds to be treated as equity.

China Coordinating arrangers Fuji Bank, Hang Seng Bank, Sumitomo Bank and Westdeutsche Landesbank launched the $110m working capital facility for China National Offshore Oil Corp on October 6.

THE SHARP correction in the US Treasury market following Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan's comments on Wednesday about the possibility of future US interest rate hikes gave the Eurodollar market a much needed boost as yields started to move down to levels at which investors are once again looking to enter the market. Westpac Banking Corp took advantage of this renewed interest to issue the first successful dollar benchmark the market has seen for several weeks. The $500m five year bond was re-offered at 40bp over Treasuries. Joint lead managers Nomura and SBC Warburg Dillon Read said the deal had sold out very quickly and achieved all the criteria the issuer had set -- a successful benchmark debut in the fixed rate dollar market and a broadening of its investor base beyond its traditional floating rate note buyers.

THE ASIAN Development Bank was forced to pay more than initially anticipated this week when widening 10 year spreads hit its debut DM1.5bn Eurocurrency benchmark transaction. Price talk during roadshows for the deal had focused on a spread of 10bp to 12bp over Bunds but, in response to general spread widening of 3bp to 4bp, the issuer agreed to pay 14bp over to ensure its strategic bond enjoyed a successful launch on Wednesday.

THE AFRICAN Development Bank is set to launch a new benchmark in the Eurodollar market, with roadshows for an expected $300m five year offering due to end on Monday. Lehman Brothers will run the books on the new offering which follows the AfDB's second visit to the Eurorand sector, a R100m seven year deal led by Hambros this week. Thierry de Longuemar, the AfDB's treasurer, told Euroweek that the dollar transaction formed part of the supranational's policy of keeping institutional investors familiar with its product.

THE $9.5bn-plus sale of Telecom Italia shares looks set to go ahead despite this week's resignation of the country's government and turmoil in world stockmarkets."We have reviewed the transaction with the government, its advisers and the syndicate, and are proceeding as planned," said Charles Kirwan-Taylor, a managing director in the equity capital markets division of BZW, one of the global coordinators on the sale alongside Mediobanca. "The fundamental investment case for the company has not changed."

THE $9.5bn-plus sale of Telecom Italia shares looks set to go ahead despite this week's resignation of the country's government and turmoil in world stockmarkets.

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FRANCE's privatisation of France Télécom has been a runaway success, with the institutional offering to domestic and international investors closing earlier this week some 20 times oversubscribed, and the retail offer attracting 3m private shareholders by last night.