FACTBOX-Arbitrage spreads for LBOs under scrutiny

Aug 10 (Reuters) - Tightening credit markets and fears of a
global liquidity crunch have turned a normal summer slowdown in
mergers and acquisitions into a deep freeze.

Here are the arbitrage spreads for some closely watched
leveraged buyouts. The wider the spread, which represents the
difference between the price offered and Friday's closing price
for the target, the more investors doubt the deal will close.

Target Buyer Expected M&A arbitrage

close date spread*

ALLTEL TPG; GS; 8/07 8.5%

Cablevision Management 9/07 9.9%

Clear Channel Bain; Thomas H. Lee Year end 12.2%

First Data KKR 7/07 9.5%

Harrah's Apollo; TPG Year end 8.4%

Hilton Hotels Blackstone 10/07 8.2%

SLM Corp JC Flowers; BofA 12/07 24.5%

TXU KKR 9/07 8.8%