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Coca Cola Beverages (CCB), one of the ten anchor bottlers within the Coca-Cola system and the largest bottler of carbonated soft drinks in Central and Europe has been floated on the London Stock Exchange. The flotation valued the company at over £1.7 billion (US$2.8 billion). Warburg Dillon Reed acted as sponsor and bookrunner. CCB was created by the demerger of the bottling business of Coca-Cola Amatil in 12 countries in central and eastern Europe and the acquisitionof The Coca-Cola Company's bottling operations in northern and central Italy.

The US$1.52 billion financing for the expansion and modernization of Permex' Cadereyta Refinery in Mexico has been closed, the largest project financing to be completed in Latin America. Funding involves a US$370.3 million bond offering, US$804.8 million loans from commercial banks and US$346 million loans from Kreditanstalt fur Wiederafbau. The project sponsors are SK Engineering and Construction, from Korea, Siemens, from Germany, and Grupo Tribasa, from Mexico.

Sakhalin Energy Investment Company, a Bermuda company owned by Marathon Oil Company, Mitsui & Co, Shell Petroleum and Mitsubishi Corporation has entered a production sharing agreement with the Russian Federation. The agreement gives Sakhalin the right to develop the Piltun-Astokhskoye oil and gas field and the Lunskoye gas field, located offshore Sakhalin Island, for 25 years. The cost of the financing of the first phase of the development of the Piltun-Astokhskoye field is approximately US$733 million, with US$385 million in equity and US$348 million in loans from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), and the Export-Import Bank of Japan (J-EXIM). Each of the lenders will provide US$116 million. In-house counsel from Sakhalin (Larry Zielke, Scott Zander and Alexander Golubnichy), from Shell (Robert Pritt) and from Marathon Oil (Jim Murphy, Rick Kolencik and David Feldwisch) worked on the deal. Coudert Brothers represented Sachalin, with partners Peter O'Driscoll (project finance) and John Sheedy (Russian law and project finance) leading the team from London and New York.

Issuer: Endesa [Empresa Nacional de Electricidad]

Maurizia Angelo Comneno, Director of the legal department at Credito Italiano, Milan, talks to Barbara Galli

The International Securities Market Association (ISMA) has complained to the EU Banking Federation over its proposal for a European master agreement for repo transactions. ISMA has sponsored its own master agreement the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (GMRA) since 1992 supported by legal opinions from counsel in 30 countries in order to establish a global standard. It argues that an EU agreement is unnecessary and likely to create confusion in the repo market. Thomas Hunzinker, general counsel to ISMA in Zurich, says the draft proposal goes beyond standardizing the different agreements used for domestic transactions in the EU. "We would not be concerned with the attempt by the Federation to standardize national agreements and bring them more into line with European standards but we are concerned if what they are trying to do is to undermine or replace the GMRA," says Hunzinker. "It very clearly refers to a standard document that could be used for cross-border transactions within the EU and that raised a few eyebrows." Hunzinker has tried to clarify the scope of the proposal with representatives of the Banking Federation but has received no reply from the secretary general in Brussels nor from the domestic banking federations which are constituent members. Secretary general of the Federation Nicolaus Bömcke refused to return calls.

Linklaters & Alliance Linklaters & Paines (UK):

New legislation in Australia removes doubts as to the enforceability of netting in insolvency. It should boost local financial institutions. By John Stumbles and Edward Kerr of Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Sydney

US firm Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle has opened an office in Milan. A joint venture with Italian firm Studio Legale Gilioli, the office is headed by partner Eric Gilioli and takes the name Curtis, Mallet-Prevost & Gilioli. Curtis Mallet-Prevost sees Italy as an important addition to its European network of offices in Frankfurt, London and Paris. Managing partner of the firm George Kahale explains: "There is a lot of international work, both inbound and outbound, between Italy and the US. Our firm is also very active in Latin America and the Middle East and we have existing business in Milan representing a number of multinationals doing business in those areas." The firm will aim to build on existing strengths including corporate M&A work, joint ventures and project finance.

With the increased use of subordinated debt in projects, lawyers are faced with novel negotiating situations. This article considers the problem areas. By Peter Avery of Clifford Chance, Tokyo