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Qatar Investment Authority is paying £1.4bn to buy UK care homes provider Four Seasons, which is being sold by Allianz Capital Partners.

Rating: A3/A-

Swiss mining company Xstrata, which is listed in London, has denied suggestions that it plans to significantly reduce the size of its £2.75bn rights issue, which will part-finance its C$19bn hostile acquisition of Canadian copper and nickel mining company Falconbridge.

Eurohypo has begun marketing the first real estate securitisation to be issued through Germany's True Sale International. Traditionally securitisations of German property have either been synthetic or originated out of London.

Crédit Agricole Asset Management will price the second tap of Confluents, a highly unusual "fund of fund" style CLO arranged by Calyon. The first issue was completed at the end of July, and periodic taps are expected to match the ramp up of the portfolio, which has a target size of Eu2.6bn equivalent. CAAM, the global manager, will apportion principal to funds advised by five CLO managers; Ares Management, Axa Investment Managers, ICG, Loomis Sayles and Van Kampen. The collateral is split between

Banca Nazionale del Lavoro has begin roadshows for a Eu2.367bn securitisation of residential mortgages, via BNP Paribas (books), and joint leads Banca IMI and UBM. The deal is BNL's fourth RMBS, and quite possibly its last, as the company hopes to be able to issue under the Italian covered bond framework next year.

The ailing UK credit card market continued to overshadow the European ABS market this week, as Barclays Bank announced a £111.8m subordinated note issue to prop up its £8.2bn Gracechurch Card Funding Trust.

Alcentra will soon begin roadshowing Jubilee CDO VII, its fourth European CLO this year, and only two months after it priced its last deal in the Jubilee programme. The Eu500m deal will be arranged by Barclays Capital, and is expected to price at the beginning of October. JP Morgan has arranged the manager's last three Jubilee deals.

Ofwat, the UK water regulator, this week moved to protect the sector's financial stability by announcing that it would modify companies' licences to include a cash lock-up provision in the event of a company being downgraded below investment grade. The announcement came just a day after Thames Water announced a capital restructuring ahead of a planned IPO or sale by its German owner RWE, and announced that, in the event of an IPO, it would increase its consolidated gearing to over 70% as a percentage of its regulated asset value (RAV).

Bear Stearns and CIT Group are in the market with a $350 million asset-based loan with a $25 million first-in-last-out tranche for Lord & Taylor last Thursday, according to a banker.

Berry Plastics' $675 million term loan "B" broke at 100-100 1/4 in the secondary market last week.