London - December 30, 2005 - 2005 shattered all records in the EMEA syndicated loan market as companies in Europe, the Middle East and Africa pushed through the $1 trillion barrier for the first time, borrowing a record $1.26 trillion, according to Reuters Loan Pricing Corporation.

2005's record volume marks the EMEA market's fourth consecutive year of growth since 2001 and shows a huge 46% increase on 2004's volume of $866 billion, which was itself a record.

The dramatic increase in volume takes EMEA volume close to that of the far larger U.S. market for the first time although the gap has been closing steadily over the last four years. U.S. volume last year was 56% higher than Europe - this year it is only 16% ahead.

The EMEA market's exponential growth is due to high market liquidity across the board and historically low borrowing costs, however the resurgence in M&A activity in the second half of the year strongly boosted numbers.

M&A lending surged to $364 billion in 2005 as companies took advantage of loan market conditions to raise cheap financing, but the dramatic increase which puts M&A borrowing 145% ahead of last year's figures came from a dramatic second-half increase in investment-grade M&A lending.

Highly-rated companies raised $201 billion of M&A financing, which is 128% up on 2004. This shows M&A borrowing close to levels last seen in the M&A boom of 2000, when M&A lending hit $213 billion.

The investment-grade M&A wave produced the biggest loan of the year, as Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica borrowed £18 billion to finance its acquisition of U.K. operator O2. The loan raised more than £30 billion from the market in a clear demonstration of market liquidity and support for the company.

Three of the ten largest deals of the year were M&A transactions for investment grade companies. These also included Pernod Ricard's €9.35 billion euro loan backing its acquisition of U.K. drinks company Allied Domecq, and Saint Gobain's €9 billion euro loan backing its acquisition of U.K. plasterboard maker BPB.

For the first time ever, a Russian borrower appears in the EMEA market's list of the ten largest deals. Energy giant Gazprom's US$13.1 billion loan which financed its takeover of oil firm Sibneft was Russia's largest loan.

PRIVATE EQUITY LENDING SOARS
The EMEA leveraged loan market, which finances more indebted non-investment grade companies and private equity sponsors' leveraged buyouts (LBOs), turned in just under $200 billion of volume.

The vast majority of leveraged loans -72% - back private equity firms' activity in new LBO lending and in recapitalising existing investments to pay themselves dividends.

The financing backing the buyout of Italian telecom Wind was the largest leveraged loan of the year, with a senior debt package totalling €6.85 billion in addition to €700 million of second lien paper.

Private equity firms borrowed nearly twice as much in 2005 - $143 billion compared with $73 billion in 2004 as their increased financial firepower allowed them to buy larger companies and lending to leveraged buyouts (LBOs) also nearly doubled to $92.3 billion.

The growth in leveraged buyout (LBO) financing also fuelled an increase in subordinated lending. Second lien loans, which give lenders a second claim over assets in the event of bankruptcy, increased three fold to $7 billion, which is 177 % higher than 2004. Mezzanine loans, which offer a cost-effective alternative to the high yield bond market, doubled this year to $16.3 billion.

CITIGROUP TAKES TOP POSITION
Amid fierce competition for mandates and fee income, Citigroup emerged as the top mandated lead arranger of all syndicated EMEA bank loans, arranging 319 loans worth $102.4 billion, giving a 8.08% market share.

BNP Paribas came in second with 6.71% of the market - arranging 362 deals totalling $85.011 billion and Royal Bank of Scotland came in third, with 329 deals totalling $79.024 billion, or 6.23% of the market.

Rank	Bank Holding Company	Volume	# of deals	Market Share
1	Citigroup	102,394,926,203	319	8.08%
2	BNP Paribas	85,011,684,045	362	6.71%
3	Royal Bank of Scotland	79,024,201,188	329	6.23%
4	Barclays	77,020,387,250	303	6.08%
5	Calyon	72,966,166,064	289	5.76%
6	HSBC	66,572,133,289	298	5.25%
7	SG CIB	66,419,422,507	266	5.24%
8	Deutsche Bank	59,457,895,159	163	4.69%
9	J.P. Morgan	58,842,101,548	154	4.64%
10	ABN AMRO	46,753,534,623	192	3.69%

About Reuters Loan Pricing Corporation
Since 1985 Reuters Loan Pricing Corporation (Reuters LPC) has provided market players around the world with the most complete and accurate news, data and analytics on the loan and credit markets. Reuters LPC's coverage spans the U.S., Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Japan and Asia-Pacific via subsidiary Basis Point Publishing Limited. Reuters LPC's content is delivered via publications, on-line services and databases.

LPC is the premier global provider of credit market information and analysis as a result of its in-depth focus on the credit industry and development of state-of-the-art products and services for bankers, borrowers and investors. For more information, visit the company website at www.loanpricing.com

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