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Ghana The Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) is about a week a way from mandating a consortium of two banks to arrange its pre-export financing. Market sources say Barclays is one of the front

APPETITE for Air Liquide's £4.3bn senior debt facility backing its acquisition of 50% of British Oxygen Company has been extraordinarily strong. According to arrangers Banque Nationale de Paris and Crédit Agricole Indosuez, general syndication may not be necessary - every single bank asked to join the deal at the senior co-arranger level has said yes. Some 20 banks were invited and the arrangers had thought they would get about 14 acceptances at the most.

Dollar swap spreads began the week trading at 100bp over the 10 year Treasury - an historic high. On Tuesday, they retraced some ground and traded down to 95bp, but by Wednesday the widening had started again. Considerable paying by a number of investment banks, led by Goldman Sachs, according to dealers, drove swap spreads higher again. By the end of the week, the 10 year market was quoted at 98.25bp-98.75bp. Dollar swaps have held on to these all-time highs for longer than was the case in the financial market crises of August last year.

Hong Kong Citicorp International is sounding out banks on a deal for Amoy Properties' financing of the Kowloon Station Package Four Development.

Asia n The J-Bond Ltd

THE $500m revolver for Atlas Copco was signed on July 27. The deal raised $700m but the borrower did not take the extra funds and banks were scaled back instead. The facility will be used to support the borrower's acquisition of Rental Services Corporation and for general corporate purposes.

Australia Arrangers ABN Amro Australia, ANZ Investment Bank, BA Australia, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank are still looking for sub-underwriters for the A$1.43bn multi-tranche deal for Queensland Power (Australia).

Market commentary: Compiled by Glenn Blackley,

Aren't you slightly tired of the tidal wave of propaganda being released by the three French banks which have been dancing at each others' altars and at the boudoir door since the beginning of the year? Unless you were an advertising manager on one of the big financial dailies (haven't they had a field day?), your eyes would be glazing over with the sheer weight of the shareholder schmoozing.

Has the Portuguese treasury done an about-turn on its plans to tap the loan market? Only one week after bankers were saying that the Republic of Portugal had dropped the idea of raising a syndicated loan as a result of the disappointing number of bidding banks, well placed sources report that the sovereign is close to appointing a small group of banks to arrange a Eu1.5bn standby revolving credit.

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