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Australia * JB Were & Son and Warburg Dillon Read are joint lead managers for the planned 46.5m share spin-off IPO of the PaperlinX paper business from listed Australian company Amcor, which intends to become a specialist packaging stock with focus on offshore acquisitions.

LEHMAN Brothers closed the £130m equity fundraising for UK based business-to-business e-commerce software company Infobank twice covered amid tricky market conditions for internet related stocks. "Technology stocks have been in a downward spiral ever since launch," said a banker. "The sector and comparables have performed horribly."

Argentina Lead arrangers FleetBoston and Deutsche Bank are in the market with a $125m three year term loan for Argentine gas and electricity supplier CAPEX SA.

ITALY'S Regione Marche this week successfully overcame volatile market conditions to sell a $150m 20 year transaction in the US market. Despite ballooning spreads on Tuesday, the deal was priced within its indicated spread range at 165bp over Treasuries. According to an official at lead manager Warburg Dillon Read, the borrower's credit story and the growing appetite for municipal and regional credits enabled the pricing to be kept within its marketing range. A successful roadshow with selected US investors was a further contributing factor.

Battered on all fronts by unpredictable equity markets, volatile swap spreads, and even uncertainty over who they will be working for next week, bankers are looking forward to the coming series of holidays as a chance to escape from the hostile markets of the first quarter. Although swap spreads in the US receded from record highs set mid-week when fears of further US agency credit concerns were raised, the sharp movements in Nasdaq continue to worry market participants. They were left wondering when bond markets will stabilise or find a clear direction.

Merrill Lynch global debt markets head Kelly Martin is set to exploit the hiring of Kleinwort Benson’s TJ Lim by luring more key members of Dresdner’s bond team.

Merrill Lynch global debt markets head Kelly Martin is set to exploit the hiring of Kleinwort Benson’s TJ Lim by luring more key members of Dresdner’s bond team.

After years on the offensive, German mortgage banks are being forced on to the back foot. While issuers of obligations foncières in France are offering investors liquid alternatives, mortgage banking associations across Europe are preparing proposals that could neutralise the competitive advantages that the German Pfandbrief market has long enjoyed.

* Quinten Stevens has been appointed as managing director and head of the US equity capital markets group at JP Morgan. He reports to Tim Main, managing director, global head of equity capital markets. Stevens joined from Salomon Smith Barney, where he worked for three years in TMT ECM. He has also worked for the firm as co-head of the media and communications investment banking group.

Market report: Compiled by Glenn Blackley,

* Kommunalbanken AS Rating: Aaa/AAA