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Jon Thornton, who left Aberdeen Asset Management two weeks ago, will join Gartmore as head of UK equities at the end of the month. The fund manager is one of the UK's best known investors. He left Aberdeen along with five other fund managers following a restructuring.

Russia's deputy finance minister Sergei Kolotukhin is touring the US in a trip organised by Russian investment bank Troika Dialog. The minister is attempting to drum up interest in the Russian turnaround story. Kolotukhin spoke to several fixed income and equity investors about structural reforms and government finances.

Leak has come to the conclusion that skiing must be one of the entrance requirements for investment banking these days. Everyone is abandoning their trading duties and is flying off to various slopes around Europe. This week Commerzbank's head MTN trader, Gayle Turner, and head of UBS Warburg's desk, Gavin Eddy, are showing off what they can do on the piste. But Gavin and Gayle should be on their guard, because rumour has it that a strange man has been spotted hanging around some of the more popular ski resorts in France, and we're not talking about ex-JPMorgan trader Rupert Lewis. Despite the biting cold winds, this man wears nothing but sandals. His name? Phillippe Philloppe... But Leak has news of something that will definitely warm you up after freezing your nether regions on the ski slopes of Europe... Islandsbanki is plotting to subject the MTN market to Thorrablot Two... just when you thought it was safe to go back to the water, the dried shark meat and brennivin returns. After last year's shenanigans at Waterstones's bookstore in London's Piccadilly, we can't wait to see what they have lined up for us this year.

The loan market is gearing up for the second big Italian power asset sale - the Eu4bn disposal of Eurogen by Enel. The Eurogen sale is also the biggest, representing some 7,000MW of capacity.

Hedge funds are expected to perform strongly this year, as economic uncertainty continues to cloud the prospects for other asset classes. Ron Mitchell, chief executive officer of Liberty Ermitage, part of the Standard Bank Group and manager of $800m of hedge fund assets, told EuroWeek that conservative hedge fund strategies have never been so compelling.

Oman Syndication is underway on the $1.364bn of loan facilities for Oman LNG LLC.

Mandated arrangers BBVA, Barclays Capital and Crédit Lyonnais are set to launch the syndication of the Eu186.4m senior debt facilities for the Mivisa LBO. The deal is structured into four facilities. Tranche 'A' is an Eu88m amortising term loan. Tranche 'B' is a Eu33m senior semi-bullet term loan. Tranche 'C' is a Eu19.19m senior amortising term loan. Tranche 'D' is a Eu46.2m working capital facility. Crédit Lyonnais will separately syndicate a mezzanine facility for the deal.

* Paul Myners, the eponymous author of the UK Treasury's review of institutional investment, has taken on a non-executive directorship at the Bank of New York. The move follows Myners' decision to step down as chairman of investment company Gartmore at the end of November 2001, when he announced his intention to develop a portfolio of non-executive directorships and to spend more time on his charitable interests and with his young family. He also declared that he would leave the fund management industry to seek fresh challenges.

Czech Republic Cesky Telecom is setting up a domestic MTN programme through local banks Ceska Sporitelna and CSOB, from which it will issue more than Ck10bn (Eu314m) over three years. The first issue, a three to five year bond of up to Ck4bn, is expected from April.

Transactions increased: * Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale

Germany Energie Baden-Württemberg, the German utility, has postponed its Eu2bn IPO planned for this year, citing poor market conditions. The company will now be forced to repay the Eu490m going-public convertible bond it issued in April at 103% because of its failure to complete the IPO. UBS Warburg and Deutsche Bank were scheduled to lead the deal.