Merrill Lynch has completed a £71.6m (€114m) accelerated global tender in shares of Cadbury Schweppes, the UK confectionary and soft drinks company, despite the volatility in the equity markets.

Merrill's deal for Cadbury Schweppes comes just one day after Schroder Salomon Smith Barney raised €69.3m ($64m) from a block trade in Lagardere, the French media group. Bankers are tentatively suggesting that deals are slowly coming back to the equity markets.