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Argentina Sodigas Pampeana has mandated Santander Investment Securities Inc, BankBoston NA, Bank of America and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya to arrange a $150m bridge to a bond.

Lloyds TSB will test the depth of demand for subordinated debt in the coming weeks when the UK clearing bank launches $2bn of perpetual step-up bonds to finance its agreed £7bn acquisition of mutual life company Scottish Widows.

Egypt Bank of New York, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and WestLB launched late last week a $150m three year term loan for Commercial International Bank (Egypt) SAE to co-arrangers. Banks are offered 40bp for a take-and-hold commitment of $10m.

European companies took advantage of favourable issuing conditions in the equity linked debt markets this week to launch a trio of large transactions - with very mixed results. Despite growing worries over a possible rate rise at next week's FOMC meeting in the US, generally buoyant stockmarkets enabled British Aerospace, Fortis and the Belgian utilities Tractebel and Electrabel to issue sizeable convertible and exchangeable bonds.

Morgan Stanley Dean Witter is preparing to provide a £1bn bridge loan to UK pub company Punch Taverns, if its £2.7bn bid for the pub, liquor store and soft drinks interests of Allied Domecq is successful. The US house plans not to syndicate the debt, but to proceed immediately to a securitisation of some of the pubs. The businesses Allied Domecq is selling are some 3,500 pubs, including managed and tenanted houses, a stake in the First Quench chain of off-licence shops, and a 25% stake in Britannia, which controls soft drinks manufacturer Britvic.

BARCLAYS and Greenwich NatWest have won the mandate to arrange a £300m multicurrency revolving credit for Old Mutual plc. The transaction, which marks the borrower's debut in the Euroloan market, will be used for general working capital purposes and will provide support for Old Mutual plc's growth plans.

Nosediving European government bond markets combined with heavy supply this week to push the euro credit market to its limit. While investors watched the spectacle as lead managers and borrowers competed for their attention, few entered the turbulent market. But fears of oversupply continue. Several corporates are set to tap the market next week, although Mannesmann will avoid the nerves in the fixed rate market when it launches a Eu2bn-plus three year floater paying around Euribor plus 20bp via Balaba, Commerzbank and Paribas.