Market Chatter -- Corporate finance press digest

LONDON, July 16 (Reuters) - The following corporate finance-related stories involving U.S. and European companies were reported by media on Wednesday:

* Senior lenders to Four Seasons Healthcare, including Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), Cheyne Capital, Marathon Asset Management and a real estate fund run by Morgan Stanley (MS.N), are stepping up efforts to restructure its debt, the Financial Times reported.

The UK healthcare provider, owned by a fund in which the Qatar Investment Authority is the biggest investor, is facing a refinancing of 1.2 billion pounds of its 1.5 billion overall debt load in September the paper said.

* British Energy BGY.L has hired investment banking boutique Gleacher Shacklock to act as an independent adviser on its bid approach from French energy group EDF (EDF.PA), the Daily Telegraph reported.

The UK energy company has used NM Rothschild and its broker JP Morgan Cazenove for advice previously, but both have a commercial relationship with EDF, the paper said.

* The Saudi Arabian government has approved the creation of a new state investment vehicle with an initial capital of over $5 billion, the Financial Times reported on its website.

The firm, named Sanabil al-Saudia, will invest in Saudi Arabia and various sectors overseas, the paper said.

* Private equity firms are set to expand their share of the domestic M&A market, the Financial Times said in an interview with Richard Folsom, the head of Advantage Partners, on its website.

The private equity share of Japanese M&A will grow from its current level of around 5 percent to around 25 percent over the long term, Folsom said. (Compiled by Simon Challis, editing by Will Waterman)