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Bayerische Landesbank and Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen this week agreed to strategic co-operation in several business areas, heightening speculation that the two Landesbanks could eventually merge. The agreement links the banks in fields such as commercial banking, asset management and e-commerce.

GOLDMAN Sachs will press ahead with the high profile £150m IPO of Egg, despite the UK being among the worst affected markets this week with the withdrawal of IPOs from Yes TV, TeleCity and Opal Telecom. The fate of the Prudential spinoff IPO could determine whether a number of stalled and waiting deals from UK issuers will come to market.

Merrill Lynch has made Kevan Watts co-head of the investment banking group. His appointment is effective immediately, and he will work with co-head Dan Bailey on client relationships and strategic planning. He will be based in London. "I will still deal with client marketing and focus my personal calling on clients across all industries in Europe and Asia," said Watts. "I also want to ensure my team gets excellent support."

Bahrain The $100m three year facility for Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait is being offered at a single level in general syndication. Lead managers are asked for $5m at 30bp.

The long bidding processes for the arranging mandates for two of eastern Europe's big corporate names - Mol of Hungary and PKN of Poland - are set to be decided within the next week or two. Bids are due in today (Friday) by banks attempting to win the arranging mandate for the $300m revolving credit facility for Mol. The deal will have a maturity of either five or seven years, and price talk suggests the margin will be below 50bp over Libor for a five year deal.

ONE Neuer Markt IPO was pulled this week and many more postponed as it became harder to persuade investors to buy new issues. Although no one is sure how long the negative sentiment will last, some fear it could be a number of months before the IPO market recovers. Last year the Nemax All-Share Performance Index fell 27% over a period of 2-1/2 months to a low of 2,681 in September. That slide resulted in a period in which a string of IPOs had to be postponed. From March 10 this year the index fell 40% over 2-1/2 months, closing on Wednesday at 5,117. Although it recovered yesterday (Thursday) to 5,336, bankers and investors remain uncertain whether there is another lengthy barren period to come.

Brazil Nomura has scooped another Samurai mandate for a Latin American government entity - this time for BNDES, the Brazilian development bank. The bank, which is guaranteed by the sovereign, is looking for around ¥30bn for three or four years.