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EuroWeek understands that Barclays and JP Morgan, which are arranging and underwriting a circa £400m acquisition facility for Premier International Foods, have soft launched the deal to co-arrangers in a sub-underwriting phase. The new £400m debt facility backs the £135m acquisition of Nestlé's UK and Irish ambient-temperature food businesses. The businesses are said to be worth between £110m and £120m.

Guarantor: Dr Ing HCF Porsche AG Amount: Eu300m

Punch Taverns produced a hint of optimism for the IPO market this week when its relaunched and resized flotation rose by 5.4%. The success of the £160m IPO, which resurfaced on Monday just days after being pulled, surprised bankers but gave the market hope that investors will buy new issues if they are cheap enough.

Rating: Aaa/AAA Amount: Nkr250m (increase to Nkr500m issue launched 07/05/02)

Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA Amount: C$100m

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) signed a euro10 billion ($9.25 billion) Euro-CP programme on May 7. The first trade will be placed within the next two weeks. The financial markets division of RBS acts as arranger and sole dealer. It is the fourth Euro-CP programme to be signed by a UK issuer this year, but unlike the others, and unlike its £

Rating: Baa1/BBB+/BBB+ Amount: Eu300m

Rating: Aaa/AAA (Moody's/Fitch) Amount: Eu150m (fungible with Eu300m issue launched 04/09/01)

Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland have the mandate to arrange a £660m senior debt facility for betting chain William Hill. The deal will partly refinance the debt facility backing the leveraged buy-out completed in 1998 when CVC and Cinven bought William Hill from Nomura. Some £400m of senior debt that backed the buy-out was refinanced in 1999. BT Alex- Brown International lead arranged the deal.

At the end of May, WorldCom enters Merrill Lynch's benchmark European high yield index. It will become the second biggest credit in the index, behind the leader Xerox, which commands 5%. The majority of high yield funds will have to buy the name, and it will be a bold manager that declines exposure. "Portfolio entry timing is critical, given the volatility in the name," said Anthony Robertson, fund manager at New Flag Asset Management. Some high yield accounts may find room for WorldCom, having cashed in on another telco, KPN, which has ridden smoothly through the volatility in the broader telecoms sector.

Yell, the UK-based directories business, yesterday (Thursday) confirmed plans to raise £750m from an IPO, just a year after being bought from BT Group by a private equity consortium. JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch are leading the deal, which is expected to be roadshowed in the week of June 10. The IPO is also likely to include a sale of secondary shares from the venture capitalists.

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein has signed banks into YTL's £545m debt facility backing its acquisition of Wessex Water. Joining the deal for takes of £102.5m are Barclays, BayernLB and HSBC. Dresdner has underwritten £237.5m of the deal.