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AU Optronics (Suzhou) Corp has awarded a mandate to Citigroup/SSB to arrange a $100m equivalent facility to finance its Chinese operations. The five year deal is split between a $20m portion and a renminbi portion equivalent to $80m, about Rmb660m at current exchange rates. The deal will be launched into general syndication next week.

Lazard, which is advising Uniq on the £42m sale of its St Ivel yoghurt and St Ivel spreads businesses, has requested bidders to submit letters of interest by the end of this week. Companies believed to be interested in the UK-based businesses are Parmalat, Nestlé and Campina.

Amount: A$1.19bn Guarantor: MBIA

The mandate to arrange the $80m 364 day bullet term loan for Export Credit Bank of Turkey (Turk Eximbank) has been awarded. The deal is due to be launched in the next two weeks. ABN Amro, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, WestLB (bookrunners), BayernLB (facility agent), HVB Group (documentation agent), Commerzbank, Crédit Lyonnais and Natexis Banques Populaires are arrangers.

Mandated arranger Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein will sign banks into the $50m three year facility for National Bank of Fujairah today (Friday). The deal pays a margin of 47.5bp over Libor and offers a ticket of $7.5m for a fee of 45bp for an arranger title. The borrower last tapped the market in August 1999 with a $60m three year bullet facility arranged by Commerzbank. That deal paid a margin of 55bp over Libor, with a top ticket of $7.5m for a fee of 45bp.

Two more senior officials have left Merrill Lynch in London as management changes continue to unfold in the bank's principal investment and structured finance group. Hermann Watzinger, head of securitisation and portfolio credit derivatives, and Henry Schmeltzer, who ran structured credit products, both left last week by mutual agreement.

Guarantor: Volkswagen Financial Services AG Rating: A1/A+

UK-based Vodafone has a foothold in mobile telecommunications markets throughout Europe - except France. So, with a 20% direct stake and a 12% indirect stake in French wireless operator SFR, which is 80% owned by Cegetel, it makes sense that Vodafone increase its 15% ownership in Cegetel to gain access to the French wireless market. This would mean buying Vivendi Universal's (VU) 44% stake in Cegetel, British Telecoms' 26% holding and SBC's 15% share.

WestAM finished rebuilding its global fixed income and currencies team in London this week with the appointment of Philip Chow as head of UK and global spread product. Chow starts on Monday and will report to Nigel Jenkins, head of global fixed income and currencies. Jenkins was hired by WestAM from Rothschild Asset Management (RAM) in July 2001 to help rebuild the global fixed income and currencies team, and since last summer the asset manager has announced four new hires, including Chow, to take the team to eight.