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The Yen Euro-convertible and Japanese Swiss Franc convertible market came back to life this week with deals from Acom, Tomy, Nippon Mining and I-Net. The unusual structure of Acom's ¥30bn convertible aroused interest from market observers. Priced at 102.5, the 2002 bond has a zero coupon structure. Warburg Dillon Read is lead manager for the sale.

n Speculation is mounting that the People's Republic of China is preparing to re-enter the international debt markets within the next two months. Market players said that government officials have spent the past two weeks talking with banks about printing a new deal ahead of the summer.

Roadshows begin on Monday for the $850m sale of Posco ADRs, while the Korea dealflow continues with details emerging of the syndicate for the forthcoming $1bn recapitalisation of Hanvit Bank. Last week the government filed with the SEC for the sale of a 7% stake or 27m Posco ADRs. Pricing for the issue will take place on the July 14 following an accelerated bookbuild led by Salomon Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch.

Roadshows for an inaugural euro-denominated bond by the Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) will begin in Zurich next Tuesday. The company has finally been given the go-ahead by the Ministry of Finance and the Economy (MoFE), but only on condition that proceeds must not be immediately swapped out of euros.

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) has decided to turn back to the domestic bond markets to fulfil its financing needs for the financial year ended September 30. In a decision taken late last week, the government-owned group formally abandoned plans to seek a World Bank guarantee for a second $300m offering. In its place the group is planning to raise the baht equivalent of about $140m to $150m with a possible 10 year maturity. Thai experts commented that the group, having raised about Bt10bn ($277m) annually over the past two years, should be able to push out its domestic maturity profile, although it has not completed a domestic long term financing for many years.

Jardine Fleming achieved a stunning success this week with the completion of a HK$1.06bn ($140m) IPO for Pacific Century Insurance (PCI). Bankers said that the placement tranche of the deal was around 21 times oversubscribed and syndicate members reported heavy scaling back of allocations, even for major clients. The shares priced at the top of the HK$5.26 to HK$6.28 range and while bankers connected to the deal said it could have priced above the set range, rules governing concurrent public domestic and international offerings prevented this.

CSFB and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter launched a A$400m IPO for Austar this week while Warburg Dillon Read completed a A$168m sale of Cable & Wireless Optus for Seven Network. The Austar sale is expected to price on July 17 and bankers said there had been a positive reaction to the pay TV and broadband provider during premarketing. A range of A$4.10 to A$4.70 has been set.

China.com's $63m IPO is off to a positive start with investors betting the company's three internet portals will benefit from a coming boom in internet use in Greater China. Lead manager Lehman Brothers expects to close the 4.247m share deal on July 12 although some observers believe that the issue is already covered. Bear Stearns is co-lead manager and the issue has a 15% greenshoe. Detractors have noted that the company's three portals - China.com, Hongkong.com and Taiwan.com - have few hits to date, the preferred measurement of internet success. However, the value of the company's registered names alone has been enough to enthuse investors.

The Republic of Argentina moved at lightning speed this week to take advantage of a turnaround in market sentiment to launch an Eu200m add-on to its existing 8.5% of July 1, 2004 deal. The add-on, underwritten by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, was launched on the back of a surge in Latin bond prices after the Fed made its much expected 25bp rate hike and announced a return to a neutral bias on monetary policy.

Credit Suisse First Boston has won the mandate for a euro-denominated private placement for Estonian power utility Eesti Energia, likely to be the first in a series of international bonds for electricity companies in the region in the coming months. The offering, Eesti Energia's first in the international bond markets, will be marketed to investors in mid-July for completion at the end of July.

Dresdner Kleinwort Benson and CSFB have won the coveted mandate to bring Brazil to the euro market for the first time this year. The deal, to begin roadshows in the week ahead, is expected to be a three year Eu300m to Eu500m offering in the 600bp area, a price which market participants believe will guarantee a successful transaction.

Further proof that the leading central and eastern European economies have managed to put the past two years' emerging market crises behind them was provided on Friday (June 24) when Moody's Investors Service upgraded Hungary's foreign currency sovereign ceiling from Baa2 to Baa1. The outlook on the rating is stable. Standard & Poor's last month raised its foreign currency rating for Poland to BBB from BBB-.