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Progress on the senior syndication of the Eu2.35bn acquisition financing for Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) is taking longer than expected and this stage will continue for another week or two. Tickets to the market at this level are underwriter tickets of $150m for target holds of around $100m and $75m with final holds of around $50m.

Rating: A (Fitch) Amount: Eu150m Hypotheken Pfandbrief series

The Greek government found investors surprisingly receptive to new investment opportunities this week when it completed a Eu509m issue in OPAP, the Greek soccer pools and lottery organisation. In a rare piece of business for European equity capital markets bankers, Citigroup/SSSB, EFG Eurobank and Alpha Finance, the three banks that managed the offering, found no shortage of demand for a company widely considered to be undervalued.

Amount: Eu3bn Issue price: 100.00

The mandate to arrange the new facility for Slovak Telekom has been awarded to Sumitomo. The facility will be launched into syndication in the next two weeks and carries a full EIB guarantee and will be used to refinance debt. Syndication of the Eu40m three year facility for Abanka is progressing smoothly and mandated arrangers LB Kiel, ING (joint bookrunner) and RZB (joint bookrunner) are steadily collecting commitments. The deal has so far been well supported but the summer period is slowing credit committees making their decisions. The deal pays a margin of 50bp over Euribor.

BayernLB (agent, documentation), Standard Chartered (bookrunner, information memorandum) and WestLB (bookrunner, publicity, signing agent) have launched the $100m one year dual currency term loan for Investec (South Africa) into general syndication. Co-arrangers are offered 9bp for a ticket of $7.5m, senior lead managers 7.5bp for a take of $5m and lead managers 5bp for $2.5m.

EuroWeek hears that privately owned television channel Antena Tres is in discussions with relationship banks about tapping the loan market. The company last borrowed when it secured a $52.547m equivalent five year term loan in March 1997.

Reflecting the tough conditions in the UK power finance sector, the £429m project financing for the Spalding independent power project has been flexed by arrangers Barclays Capital and Citigroup/SSSB. Originally paying 110bp over Libor pre-completion through to a high of 145bp at maturity, the deal now offers margins of 135bp to 170bp - an increase of 25bp.

Rating: AAA (Fitch) Amount: Eu150m

Redemption per Eu1,000 denomination shall be determined as follows:

Amount: Eu375m Rating: Moody's/Fitch

After a month in which falling stock markets have all but killed off European equity capital markets business, strategists are confident that an end to the misery is at last in sight. "There is a compelling valuation case to be made in the UK market," said James Montier, an equity strategist at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. "But the key question is: can it decouple from the US market?"