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The battle lines were drawn this week between Euronext and the London Stock Exchange as both started bidding aggressively for Liffe, the London-based derivatives exchange. Other possible bidders for Liffe include the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, although it is expected that as the competition heats up Chicago will be bid out of the running. The acquisition of Liffe by the LSE is a crucial move in terms of the stock exchange's future competitiveness and survival. One exchanges analyst suggested that without this deal the LSE would be forced to seek a merger with one of the other European exchanges. "In a situation where LSE did not gain control of Liffe it would not be unforeseeable to see them re-approach Deutsche Börse," he said.

The 189 syndicated loans signed in the Euromarket in the July to September period is the lowest number of deals completed in any quarter since 1992, according to figures from Dealogic. Volume has also dropped, from $140.98m in the second quarter to $111.25m in the third quarter of 2001. The quarterly volumes are the lowest recorded since the first quarter of 1999.

The dealer panel off Mercator's euro100 million ($87.93 million) Euro-CP programme (see MTNWeek, issue 241) has been announced. It consists of Bankgesellschaft Berlin, HypoVereinsbank and Westdeutsche Landesbank. Raiffeisen Zentralbank Osterreich is the arranger.

Reemtsma, the world's fourth largest cigarette manufacturer, is being prepared for a Eu1.6bn flotation by majority shareholder Tchibo, the German coffee firm. A spokesperson for Tchibo told EuroWeek that Merrill Lynch had been mandated to advise on the flotation, although no details regarding timing or size were finalised. Bankers suggested that Tchibo was planning to sell around 25% of the company in a deal that will not take place until next year at the earliest.

Oman EuroWeek understands that the planned refinancing of the $2bn project facilities for Oman Gas LLC has been delayed as a result of rising tension and uncertainty in the region. The bidding process for the arranging mandate has been underway for some time but a decision on the successful bid will be held back until the end of the year at the earliest. A banker familiar with the bidding argued that this was the right decision to take given the regional situation. "They do not need the money to get the project going," he said. "This is merely a refinancing and in times of uncertainty you are never going to get the best price or terms for a deal."

Czech Republic Standard & Poor's (S&P) has taken the ratings of Cesky Telecom off CreditWatch, while affirming it on A- for foreign currency and A for local currency. The agency gave the ratings a negative outlook.

* GMAC Australia (Finance) Ltd Guarantor: General Motors Acceptance Corp

Eight trades came in other currencies on Friday. Portman Building Society closed a £

Trades not denominated in euro, US dollar or yen have been picking up. There were 17 trade announcements yesterday with Hong Kong dollar being used in almost half of them. BBVA Global Finance did three HK$100 million ($12.82 million) trades that differed only in their maturity dates and final coupons. One goes out to August 9 2003 and pays a final coupon of 3.16%, one goes out to September 9 2003 and pays 3.24% and the other goes out to September 30 2003, paying 3.26%. HSBC Investment Bank (Netherlands) went for a HK$80 million two-month note. And Swire Pacific MTN Financing announced a HK$200 million deal that matures in January next year. Two sterling notes were issued, by Britannia Building Society and General Electric Capital Corp. Britannia's was a £