Markets on a knife-edge

Earlier today in London the FTSE100 was up 1% as news filtered through that the funding for the leveraged buyout of U.K. pharmacy chain Boots Alliance was going ahead. However it appears that £5 blillion of senior debt backing the deal remains on hold. At the time of writing the FTSE is down 0.8%.

Also joining the list of deals on hold was Cadbury Schweppes sale of its U.S. division that makes drinks such as Snapple, Dr Pepper and 7-Up because of worries that potential buyers could struggle to secure funding. Analysts estimate the division will be sold for between £7 - £8 billion pounds.

While we're on the subject Tyco International Inc. (TYC) withdrew a $1.5 billion 3-trache offering, citing "unfavorable conditions in the debt markets,"

One more for the road, Russian oil giant Gazprom decided against pricing a 30-year dollar-denomiated eurobond offering, electing to see if it can bring the paper to market at a more favorable time.

Just as news of deal being postponed can rock the markets a couple of high profile deals getting over the line could give investors some confidence to reenter the market. However if and when they do the terms will be much different than those assumed just a few weeks ago as investors quite rightly start re-pricing the risk of such deals.