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SG, La Caixa and Goldman Sachs this week launched syndication of the Eu6.3bn acquisition facility funding Gas Natural's proposed takeover of Iberdrola. Gas Natural and the arrangers have priced the deal to sell. The Eu6.3bn guarantee facility offers an initial guarantee fee of 85bp. Once Moody's and Standard&Poor's have given the newly merged company its rating the fee will ratchet on a ratings grid. For A2/A it is 70bp, at A3/A1 it increases to 85bp, for BBB+/Baa2 it will be 110bp, for Ba2/BBB it rises to 130bp, and for below Baa2/BBB it steps up to 185bp. The indicative ratings for Gas Natural post-merger are single-A.

The $200m fundraising for Korea Development Bank has been closed. The deal received a good response despite the negative sentiment towards Korean banking credits.

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA Amount: Eu1bn Öffentlicher Pfandbrief series 672

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA Amount: Eu500m

Rating: Aa1/AAA (Moody's/Fitch) Amount: Eu500m

Rating: Aa3/AA-/AAA Amount: Eu1bn Landesschatzanweisung series 8

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA Amount: $1bn

Rating: A3/A (Moody's/Fitch) Amount: Eu25m (fungible with Eu200m issue launched 19/03/03)

Back at the ranch after an invigorating weekend with ABN Amro's golfers, we are preparing the Mother of All Evenings in London for our good buddies Traugott and Lothar at Deutsche Bank who have relocated here from Germany. Knowing their deep regrets at leaving the super-fun financial metropolis that is Frankfurt, we have a night and a half planned as a welcome. We envisage a couple of light ale aperitifs early in the evening followed by a full blown sauerkraut and sausage stew - with extra cabbage à volonté. This will be followed by a late night out in Canary Wharf with pints of chilled Carling and karaoke in the City Pride.

Leak hopes that all hangovers from the MTN and CP dinner have by now subsided. The morning after the night before was tricky to navigate - especially considering Leak had not gone to bed until 4am after nightcaps and after-party action with rugby heroes Jason Leonard and Victor Ubogu. A shame that the lovely Annabel Croft was not able to stay to be impressed by the MTN market's finest. One of the many highlights of the evening was the awards ceremony, with the final gong going to Chris "Cinderella" Jones. Cinders won the Leak Award, picking up the extremely tasteful crystal glass slipper. He looked absolutely delighted bounding up to the stage and gave a very generous thank you kiss to Miss Croft. There was little doubt that Jones and the rest of the winners rose suitably to the occasion.

Some 22 banks will be signed into newly amalgamated steel company Arcelor's Eu2.003bn loan on Monday. The borrower is the world's largest steel company. For details see EuroWeek 789.

Volumes were up by more than $1.8bn this week as investors came to the market after a sharp fall in volumes the previous week. The number of trades executed surged to 478 from 351 over the previous seven days. Yen issuance accounted for a 19% market share. Just less than $1.8bn was traded in the currency from 142 notes.