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Lloyds Bank Capital Markets has launched general syndication of the £40m revolving credit for Portsmouth & Sunderland Newspapers plc. The loan carries a margin of 55bp, a commitment fee of 22.5bp and a maturity of five years. Syndication has been targeted at a small club of relationship banks. Proceeds from the loan will be used for general working capital and to finance growth of its chain of One-Stop convenience stores.

BANK Austria has closed general syndication of the $31m six month term loan extension for Vozrozhdeniye Bank. The loan was increased to $32m after a small -- but notable -- oversusbcription. The deal came amid perhaps the worst economic and political conditions lenders and borrowers have had to endure over the past five years.

WestLB has signed the Ecu472.75m and Bfr7.8bn purchase of receivables transaction for Forum Leopold. The loan is structured as a transaction to finance, over a 10 year period, the purchase price owed by the European parliament to Forum Leopold for the acquisition of a building in Brussels. The facility has been structured accordingly because the parliament is not allowed to borrow. It proved to be very successful-- it was closed early and was heavily oversubscribed.

ARRANGER ING is to hold a bankers presentation for potential co-arrangers in the Ckr3.5bn ($105.9m) revolving credit for the City of Prague today (Friday). The City of Prague deal is seen by many in the market as one of the few high quality deals to come out of eastern Europe so far this year. Indeed, the city is the top rated municipal credit in the region with an A- rating by Standard & Poor's.

Croatia The $70m two tranche term loan facility arranged by SG and UBS for Pliva ESOP has been launched straight to the market. The facilities are priced at 80bp over Libor and three levels of participation have been offered.

India The $75m amortising loan for BPL Mobile Communications arranged by Bankers Trust Co (Singapore) has been cancelled as the borrower chose to raise the amount through a local currency funding, following the failure to attain approval from India's finance ministry for dollar financing.

Arrangers BancAmerica Robertson Stephens, SG and Barclays (Miami) have achieved an oversubscription on their two year loan style FRN for Banco Hipotecario Nacional and the facility has been increased from $150m to $200m. The facility which was priced between 150bp and 200bp over Libor was signed on May 28.

Bahrain Up to five co-arrangers are to join the $100m syndicated term loan for Bahrain International Bank. Arrangers are Banque Nationale de Paris, Chase Manhattan, Gulf International Bank, ING Barings and SG. The three year debt is priced at 70bp over Libor and general syndication is set to launch next week.

BancBoston Securities, NationsBanc Montgomery Securities LLC, TD Securities (USA), BankAmerica Robertson & Stephens and Chase Securities have launched a secured $1.5bn facility for Falcon Holdings Group LP. The loan is split into an eight year $650m revolver, a nine year $200m term loan, a 9-1/2 year $300m term loan and a $350m acquisition facility, the terms of which will be negotiated at a later date.

Simon Treacy has been made head of loan distribution at Chase Manhattan. Treacy takes over from Edward Brown who left the bank in April to work for Grant Johnson at Credit Suisse First Boston. Treacy reports to Don McRee.

Finland Arrangers Banque Nationale de Paris and Merita Bank Ltd have launched the $100m revolving credit for Amer Group Ltd into the market. Proceeds on the three year faci-lity priced at 45bp over Libor will be used for general corporate purposes and to refinance existing bilaterals.

NIKKO Salomon Smith Barney Limited, the investment banking joint venture to be formed as a result of a global strategic alliance between Nikko Securities and Travelers Group, is one of the boldest moves yet to deal with the growing competitive challenges in the industry, both in Japan and outside. By combining Salomon Smith Barney's institutional strength with Nikko's retail base, the participants aim to create a powerhouse which will provide investment banking, sales and trading and research services for corporate and institutional clients in Japan and overseas. "We have seen the Big Bang in Japan and we have jumped the gun," said Michel de Carvalho, head of Nikko's international operations.