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DEUTSCHE BANK and Merrill Lynch have launched the sub-underwriting phase of the £265m backing the LBO of Ineos Acrylics by Charterhouse Development Capital. Banks have been asked to commit £30m for a fee of 112.5bp over Euribor.

Crédit Local de France launched its debut obligations foncières transaction this week, a Eu2.5bn two tranche exercise via its funding vehicle Dexia Municipal Agency that suggests the spread between French covered bonds and German Pfandbriefe could disappear within months. Given the German market's 200 year head start, most analysts had predicted that even with the best framework possible, any new market would be hard pushed to match the trading levels of Pfandbriefe.

Sole arranger SG has launched general syndication of the £240m project financing for Great Yarmouth Power Limited. Banks have been invited to join at one ticket level of £15m each. Fees have not been disclosed. The co-arranging phase closed very positively and Abbey National Treasury Services, Bayerische Landesbank, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank, Industrial Bank of Japan, KBC Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland brought in. Lloyds TSB Bank joined with a £15m take-and-hold position.

Lead arranger Barclays Capital is on the verge of launching syndication of the $600m of senior secured credit facilities for FLAG Atlantic 1. The deal will be offered through the Internet-based syndication system, Intralinks, while more traditional bank presentations are scheduled to be held in London next Monday and New York next Wednesday.

SUMITOMO HAS won the mandate to arrange a Eu50m five year revolver for Bunadarbanki Islands. Syndication has been launched. But when the invitations first went out there was surprise - and much criticism - of the pricing, until the arranger discovered that somehow it had omitted the paragraph detailing the utilisation fee.

South African electricity utility Eskom this week leveraged off the positive reception accorded to last week's Eu300m 7% five year issue by the Republic of South Africa to launch a well received Eu200m three year issue. The debut euro offering via ABN Amro and Commerzbank, rated Baa3/BB+, featured a 7% coupon and re-offer price of 99.955 to give a yield of 7.017% and spread of 250bp over the 7.25% October 2002 Bund.

The Finnish government's divestment of Sonera has been an outstanding success, with global co-ordinators Goldman Sachs and Merita selling 127m ordinary shares in the Finnish national telecoms operator for Eu23.75 off a closing price in Helsinki of Eu24.75. The stock has been well bid in the local market in recent months, with the traded stock reaching a high of just under Eu28 at the beginning of this month.

? Berlin-Hannoversche Hypothekenbank Rating: AAA

UK bank Abbey National this week signalled that securitisation has become a central part of its funding and balance sheet management strategy, with the launch of its second £1bn mortgage backed security this year. Abbey sold a pilot £247.5m MBS in February 1998, and brought its first big deal a year later, but until now the bank has not stated that it would use securitisation regularly. This week, however, Abbey announced that it was considering funding up to £6bn of its £60bn mortgage book through securitisation.

A new cross-border investment banking alliance focusing on growth companies is to emerge following the news that US investment bank Robert W Baird & Co is to merge with Granville, the London-based investment banking group. Granville Baird, as the new firm will be known, will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Baird Financial Corporation, of which Baird itself is a subsidiary.

* Ireland's largest mortgage lender, Irish Life and Permanent, will launch its first securitisation of Irish mortgages next week, lead managed by Greenwich NatWest. Fastnet Securities No 1 Plc will offer Eu600m of bonds in three tranches - two senior classes rated triple-A by Moody's and Standard & Poor's, and a single-A note.