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Singapore Post is on the verge of awarding the mandate for its inaugural syndicated loan. The deal will be for around S$250m with a tenor of three years. Two rival bidding groups have formed for the mandate to arrange the S$250m credit for CapitaLand Commercial, one of the few fresh loans in the Singaporean loan market.

Six Continents is on the verge of mandating five to six banks for its two demerger facilities. Three US and three UK banks are the most likely contenders, implying Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Bank of America, Citigroup/SSSB and JP Morgan will form the leading group.

Following the death of Xavier Debonneuil on December 26, 2002, Société Générale was this week forced to make a number of changes to its general management committee. Debonneuil is to be replaced as head of corporate and investment banking by Jean-Pierre Mustier, formerly head of debt finance. Mustier joined the bank as an equity options trader in 1987, having graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines. In 1989 he was appointed head of options in the US, before taking the same role in Japan in 1991.

The eagerly awaited mandate to arrange the $1bn five year facility for Sociedade Nacional de Combustiveis (Sonangol) will be awarded today (Friday). Appetite for the deal should be good as investor confidence and interest in commodity finance deals has steadily improved. This is also the first time the Angolan borrower has opted for an open bidding process.

ABSA Bank Ltd has asked the 16 banks that committed to its $360m one year term loan signed in March 2002, to roll over their exposure for another year. Bar one or two minor changes the loan will have the same structure and similar pricing to the 2002 facility.

Bankers expect Spain's leading telecommunications company Telefónica de España SA to start discussions with its banks about refinancing a Eu2bn three year tranche of a Eu8bn facility signed in 2000. ABN Amro, BBVA, the then BSCH, JP Morgan, Citigroup/SSSB and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein lead arranged the loan. Proceeds of that deal were used to finance the borrower's acquisition of a German UMTS and for general corporate purposes.

Rating: Aa3/AA- (Moody's/Fitch) Tranche 1: Eu500m

Rating: Aa2/AA+ Amount: $250m

Mandated arrangers Citigroup/ SSSB, HSBC, JP Morgan and SEB Merchant Banking launched syndication of the $1bn multi-currency revolver for Investor AB on Wednesday. A bankers presentation will be held in Stockholm in January 24. Commitments are due over the next two weeks. Mandated arrangers ABN Amro (bookrunner), Barclays Bank (bookrunner), Crédit Agricole Indosuez and Nordea signed banks into the Eu2bn five year multi-currency revolver for Stora Enso on Wednesday.

CSFB hopes to launch the debt facilities backing the secondary buy-out of Nycomed from Nordic Capital by Blackstone Partners into general syndication next week. Most of the syndicate that committed to the debt facilities that backed Nordic's acquisition of the pharmaceuticals company have come into this deal, so general syndication will be limited. Scandinavian banks and funds will be targeted.

Taiwan Cellular Corp is looking for funding to finance its purchase of a 5.75% stake in national telecoms carrier Chunghwa Telecom Co. A consortium including Cathay Financial Holdings, Fubon Financial Holdings and Taiwan Cellular Corp agreed to purchase a 13.5% stake at a cost of NT$64bn on December 17.

Rating: A3/A- Amount: Eu1bn