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Rating: A1/A+ Amount: Eu200m (increased from Eu150m, fungible with two issue totalling Eu350m first launched 17/05/02)

Arrangers Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and Lehman Brothers have released the list of institutions which were signed into the Eu2bn facility backing the merger of South African Breweries with Miller Brewing of the US, which used to be owned by Philip Morris. The new company is called SABMiller. SunTrust committed Eu75m, Fortis Bank, Rabobank, WestLB, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, ABN Amro, Barclays, National Australia Bank, Scotia, Banc One, Bank of Scotland and Fleet Boston Financial all joined taking Eu65m. Standard Bank, HVB and Allied Irish Bank took Eu60m each. BAWAG committed Eu45m. CDC IXIS, Nedcor Trading Services, Ansbacher, Bank of America, Citigroup/ SSSB, ING, Natexis Banques Populaires, PB Capital, TD Securities and United Overseas Bank committed Eu40m.

Rating: BBB+ Amount: £50m (fungible with £200m issue launched 22/07/02)

Sole mandated arranger Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi will launch the Eu75m five year facility for Slovenske Elektrarne into syndication in the next two weeks. The deal has been slightly delayed while the borrower finalises its interim auditing figures. The deal pays a margin of 150bp over Libor. A number of reverse inquiries have already been received.

Mandated arranger RZB will launch the Eu60m five year bullet term loan for Vseobecna Uverova banka (VUB) into senior syndication in the next two weeks. The loan is extendable by two years at the arranger's discretion. The facility pays a margin of 37.5bp over Libor. The proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes. VUB was founded in 1990 and is rated Ba1 by Moody's, BB- by Standard & Poor's and BB+ by Fitch. Mandated arrangers Bank Austria, Citigroup/SSSB, Sumitomo (bookrunner) and WestLB have launched the Eu50m five year facility for Slovenia Export Corporation (SID) into syndication and commitments are due by September 12. The deal pays a margin of 25bp over Libor for years one and two and 27.5bp over Libor for years three to five.

Rating: A Amount: Eu700m Öffentlicher Pfandbrief series 306

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA Amount: £150m (fungible with £350m issue launched 04/03/02)

Although Absa was expected to tap the international loan market in the second half, bankers close to the borrower say it has opted to wait until next year. Absa is a familiar name to the loan market and most recently secured a Eu300m club deal in March 2002. The bullet term loan offered a margin of 30bp over Libor.

Rating: Aa3/AA- Amount: Eu600m (increased from Eu500m)

New issues remained the focus of the dollar swap market this week with another full roster of business. As the week wore on, eyes turned increasingly to the post-Labor Day period and the mountain of new product that is expected to be brought during the next four weeks. Much of this debt is likely to be swapped out of fixed rate, which means dollar swap spreads should be pressured lower. Five and 10 year swap spreads are 2bp-3bp lower at the end of this week than they were seven days ago and have come in perhaps 8bp over the last two weeks.

After such a terrible year at the hands of world stock markets, you would expect a global fund manager to be in fed up with life in the capital markets. But following a month which has seen most indices rise by 15%-20%, Axa Investment Managers' UK head of global equities Steve Tyson believes that the worst is over. "I am optimistic about the markets," he said. "In July, when the market bottomed out, over half the market in the US and Europe was selling on 13 to 15 times earnings. This compares to two years ago, when a lot of the market was on 25 to 40 times earnings. I think there is very much a market for very opportunistic stock pickers."

Mandated arrangers Danske Bank, HSBC and SEB Merchant Banking have closed syndication of the $500m five year facility for Swedish engineering group Sandvik. The facility has been oversubscribed but the borrower is unlikely to accept an increase. Between 15 and 20 banks have joined the deal, which will be signed on September 12. The facility includes a Skr1bn swingline facility and pays a margin of 30bp over Libor, with a commitment fee of 12.5bp. It offers two levels of participation: co-arranger for a take of $50m; and senior lead manager for a take of $30m. The utilisation fee is 5bp for more than 33% drawn and 10bp for 66% drawn.