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8447

WestMerchant Bank has recruited James Garvey as head of central and eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa.

SOLE arranger UBS has signed and closed syndication of the £718m limited recourse financing for the UK's largest independent gas fired merchant power project -- the 1,200MW Saltend cogeneration plant. The deal is remarkable in demonstrating that there is a growing number of banks with credit committees willing to accept limited recourse merchant risk and also that there is appetite for subordinated project finance debt.

The banks and their roles in the $10.9bn debt facilities backing Texas Utilities' acquisition of the Energy Group are as folllows: Joint lead arrangers are Chase Manhattan, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch International Bank.

* BMW US Capital Corp Guarantor: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG

* Unibank A/S Rating: A3

PHILIP MORRIS will launch its first benchmark transaction in the European currency markets early next week in a DM2bn 10 year deal lead managed by Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutsche Bank.

PHILIP MORRIS will launch its first benchmark transaction in the European currency markets early next week in a DM2bn 10 year deal lead managed by Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutsche Bank.

US INVESTORS continued to focus on the Asian economic crisis this week, causing stock prices to fall further and disrupting the progress of several new issues. Although the market continues to be supported by low interest rates, the release of a number of disappointing second quarter earnings by US corporates has injected a note of unease.

8625

Austria Arrangers Creditanstalt, HSBC and UBS have launched general syndication of the Asch7.5bn Connect Austria mobile telecoms project. The eight and a half year deal is split into two tranches. Tranche 'A' is a Asch6.5bn amortising term loan. Tranche 'B' is a Asch1bn revolving credit. The project is lightly leveraged with a debt to equity split of 60:40 and is priced at 100bp from the outset.

THE IMPACT of the Asian crisis on Latin project bonds was demonstrated this week when Morgan Stanley Dean Witter had to launch $600m of Venezuelan project finance bonds wider than price talk and much wider than a comparable deal a year ago. Although the deal by Cerro Negro Finance Ltd was rated BBB+ by Duff & Phelps, the issuer paid 180bp for a $200m 8.08 year average life tranche from a 165bp to 175 spread talk, 225bp for the $350m 18.5 year average life portion (200bp to 212.5bp talk) and 237.5bp for the $50m 30 year piece, talked at 212.5bp to 225bp.