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Joint arrangers HSBC and Commerzbank this week launched a $100m three year loan for United Bank of Kuwait (UBK) into syndication. The facility pays a margin of 35bp over Libor. Invitations have been sent out to a number of relationship banks and responses are expected within the next two weeks. A banker close to the deal told EuroWeek that there is good initial appetite for the credit.

Rating: A1/A/A+ Amount: Eu50m (fungible with Eu50m launched 13/02/02)

There was puzzlement this week over speculation that the Tawellah A2 independent water and power project (IWPP) may be refinanced. With two new IWPPs to be financed this year, bankers expressed surprise that Tawellah A2 would seek to tap the markets at this stage. A refinancing competing against new assets in the same sector and market is not seen as an attractive proposition by the market. Nor do bankers feel that Tawellah A2 would be able to achieve a significant reduction in funding costs through a refinancing.

Rating: Aaa/AAA Amount: A$210m

It hasn't been the happiest of times for Swiss banks over the past six months. Poor Credit Suisse is being hammered by the local Zurich press and chairman, Lukas Mühlemann, is hanging on by his fingertips. The chances of Credit Suisse First Boston staying independent is now, according to the bookmakers, 18 months at the outside. Profits at Vontobel and Julius Baer, have dropped off and Switzerland's wealthiest investor, Martin Ebner, has run into a brick wall in Scandinavia. Is UBS therefore the country's last great hope of maintaining some credibility in the global banking amphitheatre? We always thought that UBS was a rather underrated shop - the impression is that it genuinely wants to be a Bergdorf Goodman or Saks Fifth Avenue, but when you open the door, you find yourself in a local 7-Eleven.

A dismal showing by AT&T, which had to widen price talk by 25bp-30bp to execute a $3bn three tranche issue, sent spreads on telecoms issues some 15bp wider, making life difficult for Olivetti, which is expected to launch a Eu2bn issue today (Friday) via Barclays, Citigroup/SSSB, Lehman and UBM. The two tranche Olivetti deal has had to be repriced, with the five year portion upped from mid-swaps plus 135bp to 160bp and the 10 year element from plus 165bp to 190bp.

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA Amount: R150m

Sole arranger and sub-underwriter Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein has quietly approached a handful of banks to underwrite the £545m three year deal backing YTL's £1.24bn of acquisition of Wessex Water. EuroWeek understands that Dresdner has received numerous reverse enquiries about the acquisition facility that will go out to general syndication after April.

Rating: Aa2/AA/AA Amount: Eu1.25bn

Danske Bank has signed an impressive group of banks into the Eu150m 18 month facility for AEP Energy. Joining the deal as co-arrangers taking Eu20m for 17.5bp are BayernLB, Den norske Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland.

ABN Amro has hired Merrill Lynch's global head of EMTNs, Anthony Everill, to bring its MTN business up to speed. As head of the MTN group, Everill will be based in London and report to Niall Cameron, head of debt syndicate and investment trading.

Penauille Polyservices, the French airport services group, gave another warning of the temperamental state of the market. For the second time in two weeks, a French equity deal failed to attract sufficient investor interest. Penauille, which had initially planned to tap the market last September, launched its Eu160m secondary offering last week. But a banker close to the deal said the market moved against the company during the offering period, forcing Penauille to pull the deal. The deal was scheduled to close yesterday (Thursday) but a fall of 1.8% by the CAC 40 on the day finally killed off the offering.