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* Province of British Columbia Rating: Aa2/AA

* Jumbo Asset Finance Ltd Amount: ¥11.9bn

Market commentary Compiled by Gerard Perrignon, RBC DS Global Markets, London. Tel: +44 171-865 1759

Asset backed securities: * Celtic Residential Irish Mortgage Securitisation No 1 plc

* World Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA

* Bayerische Vereinsbank Rating: Aa2

* Volkswagen Financial Services NV Guarantor: Volkswagen Financial Services AG

* World Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA

Rising M&A volumes are fuelling a boom in acquisition finance, the fastest growing area of the European syndicated lending market over the last year. The development of a more active secondary loan market and the wider use of grid pricing has given arrangers greater confidence to underwrite large deals and participants have been keen to sign up to loans that pay relatively high margins -- and which are usually refinanced quickly through bond issues or disposals. Across Europe the deal flow has been booming, with M&A deals of unprecedented size in a variety of countries being financed with relative ease in the loan market. But recently there have been signs that the acquisition finance market is getting more sticky. Has it already peaked?

Cinven's £860m acquisition of IPC Magazines from Reed Elsevier at the end of last year provided a real test for the European leveraged finance market -- big, highly geared and in a cyclical sector. How did the UK venture capitalist and its arranger Goldman Sachs manage to raise the money?

Croatia Société Générale and Union Bank of Switzerland have won the mandate to arrange a $70m dual tranche three year term loan for Pliva dd. The loan consists of a $50m tranche which will be used for refinancing and general corporate purposes and a $20m term loan which will be used to part finance Pliva's employee share ownership plan. The facility carries a margin of 80bp over Libor.

South Africa Arrangers American Express Bank, Bayerische Vereinsbank, Deutsche Bank, Fuji Bank and Kredietbank have closed general syndication of the $150m three year term loan for Investec Overseas Finance BVI. There was excellent appetite in syndication, resulting in an oversubscription, and the borrower is considering an increase.