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Bergen Brunswig dropped existing lender Wachovia Bank and selected GE Capital over a host of prospective lenders because the bank offered the most flexible long-term loan. "We can pay down the next day if we want to. With the other facility, if we borrowed $350 million, we were stuck with $350 million for two weeks. If we're flushed with cash suddenly, we can pay down and reduce interest expenses," said Linda Williams, assistant treasurer. Donna Doland, v.p. finance, added, "We can access it more often. The one we had before was not flexible, had access to it only once every two weeks." Doland posited that Wachovia may not have been interested in providing longer-term financing for the company because of post-acquisition difficulties. "We've bought some companies recently and have had a tough time integrating them," she said, declining to explain further. Wachovia officials did not return calls. The new $450 million deal was signed Dec. 20, and replaces Wachovia's $358 million, 364-day revolver.

The rumor whipping through market last week had Thomas Bunn, former head of leverage finance at Bank of America, heading to Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, but Bunn said nothing was brewing there. As first reported on LMW's Web site, Bunn said he has "not been in any negotiations with Morgan Stanley. I'm flattered you all think I'd be able to get a new job 10, 20 days after my departure," he quipped. Bunn left B of A in December, a move that surprised many in and out of the bank. William Kourakos, head of high yield capital markets at Morgan Stanley, was on vacation and could not return phone calls. Bram Smith, managing director of global high yield capital markets at Morgan Stanley, did not return calls. Officials at B of A declined to comment.

Bank of Nova Scotia will bring to market a $300 million, 364-day revolver backing Biovail Corporation's $409.5 million acquisition of Aventis Pharmaceuticals, according to an official familiar with the deal. Ken Howling, v.p. finance of Biovail in Mississauga, Ontario, would only confirm that Scotia has arranged the financing and that the company has enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the bank. He added that the company is very satisfied with the deal's terms. He declined further comment. Biovail is a pharmaceutical company. Aventis, based in Bridgewater, N.J., is the U.S. pharmaceutical subsidiary of Aventis SA. Aventis and Scotia officials did not return calls. Scotia will launch syndication with a bank meeting in Toronto, but a date has not been decided. The banker also said that Scotia has not decided if there will be a preliminary round of syndication seeking other titled agents and managing agents. Pricing will be leverage-based, but the banker declined to reveal the grid, spread and Biovail's current leverage. Linli Chee, analyst at Standard & Poor's, estimated the company's current debt to capitalization adjusted for operating leases is between 55% and 60%. "They've already drawn down $150 million from the new revolver, so it's definitely pushed passed the previous 48%." In October of last year, S&P confirmed Biovail's BB- corporate credit rating. S&P is currently in talks with Biovail management regarding its Aventis acquisition, and should issue a new rating report sometime this week.

Korea Development Bank (KDB) is aiming to access either the international bond or loan market in the first quarter of the year to help meet its annual refinancing needs, according to a KDB official this week. The state owned policy bank has $2.45bn in debt maturing over the course of the year, and is interested in accessing the international market to help refinance its redemptions.

China Shanghai Hua Hong (Group), China's premier chipmaker, has appointed Salomon Smith Barney and BNP Paribas Peregrine to help raise $300m in a Hong Kong IPO later this year. Hua Hong is a joint venture between Japan's NEC and the Shanghai government.

Bank of China International (BoCI), Credit Suisse First Boston and Merrill Lynch are set to begin the premarketing of the New York and Hong Kong IPO of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) next week. If all goes well, the deal will be launched after the Chinese new year holiday of January 24-January 26. Pricing is slated for late February.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) was the first bond issuer of the new year when it privately placed a HK$2bn bond issue on Monday morning. The Aaa/ AAA supranational tapped the market with a five year fixed rate deal via lead manager HSBC. "The entrance into the market by a supranational for a sizeable deal has helped demonstrate Hong Kong's market liquidity, even at the beginning of the year," said a syndicate official at HSBC. "We expect bond issuance to be busy up until the Chinese new year in January's fourth week, as there are a lot of deals maturing and needing refinancing."

Global co-ordinator Goldman Sachs convened a syndicate meeting yesterday (Thursday) for the forthcoming international sale of shares in Chunghwa Telecom. Bankers in Hong Kong say premarketing will begin next week and that the deal should launch shortly after the Chinese new year. Chunghwa Telecom made its debut on the Taiwanese stock market last year at NT$104 per share. The issue was widely ignored by employees, retail buyers and institutions due to a combination of political and market uncertainties which helped the Taipei market collapse more than 50% in 2000.

South Korean airline Asiana successfully closed the first Korean future flow securitisation on December 29 with a $65m ticket receivables deal lead managed by Chase Manhattan. The single tranche of OZ Receivables plc Series 2000-1 is backed by future and present dollar denominated revenues from ticket sales in the US.

Globals

The long awaited deal for Newmond's leveraged buy-out of Baxi was launched into the market on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and SG underwrote a £482m debt package to support the LBO, which is one of the first in the leveraged market this year.