A formula for the distance of a Toeplitz matrix to the subspace of {e}-circulant matrices is presented, and applications of {e}-circulant matrices to preconditioning of linear systems of equations with a Toeplitz matrix are discussed. Copyright c © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. key words: Toeplitz matrix, circulant matrix, {e}-circulant, matrix nearness problem, distance to normality, preconditi...