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THE GREEK government is to sell a further tranche of stock in its national telecom operator, OTE. The state has confirmed its intention to divest around 13% of the group's equity capital as part of its drive to increase the revenues derived from privatisation. The government made a concerted effort to beef up the asset sale programme last year with an offering of privatisation bonds sold to a wide variety of fixed income buyers by lead managers Paribas, Eurobank and National Bank of Greece.

THE DUTCH equity market is gearing up for a brisk second quarter, with a number of large deals scheduled to come to market. Like other European centres, the Amsterdam primary market has been relatively slow to regain confidence after the turbulence of last year. Several companies planning to float this year have so far been deterred by the market's high volatility.

GLOBAL co-ordinator Morgan Stanley Dean Witter has completed the sale of stock in UK commercial property group, Canary Wharf. The US firm priced the sale of shares at 330p and, despite some scepticism in the market last week, the flotation has been a success. Some bankers in London have been concerned about the group's dependence on selling space to the financial sector -- which is a rapidly consolidating industry -- and on the success of the Docklands area, which is highly geared to the completion of London Underground's Jubilee Line.

* Lehman Brothers is preparing the flotation of stock in Software, the German provider of systems software used as the underlying foundation to run thousands of large companies' business applications. Pre-marketing has started and the lead manager reports a good reception to the initial sales calls. Some 65% of the group's equity capital will be sold -- mostly by the company's founding shareholder, but with some primary capital being raised by the group itself.

VIVENDI, the acquisitive French water and media group, this week accelerated its growth strategy with the planned purchase of US Filter, the water treatment equipment company, for $6.2bn. The news sparked speculation that the company would fund its purchase through the sale of straight equity, a convertible bond or a combination of both.

SALOMON Smith Barney has executed the sale of stock in Christiania Bank. The Norwegian government sold 16% of the bank in a deal that was three times oversubscribed and showed the popularity of the banking sector. The growing pace of consolidation in the financial services industry has put a premium on the value of most stocks in this sector and has sharpened investors' appetite in anticipation of further restructuring.

BERNARD Arnault, chairman of French luxury goods group LVMH, this week fuelled speculation that the company is to issue an exchangeable bond backed by its stake in Diageo, the UK drinks group. Two weeks ago Euroweek revealed that the French company was considering its divestment and capital raising options and that a $2bn exchangeable bond was under consideration.

PORTUGAL Telecom made its debut in the international capital markets this week with a Eu1bn 10 year transaction. Bankers praised the issuer for its careful preparation, which included roadshows in several European countries. Although the issue moved out in line with the market on Thursday, the general consensus was that the deal had been fairly priced.

THE KINGDOM of Spain will return to the sterling market after a 14 year absence next week when Barclays Capital launches a £250m-£300m 30 year

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FEDERAL Farm Credit Banks launched a $1bn two year global bond this week which inaugurated a new programme of regular US agency issuance in the global debt markets -- termed Designated Bonds. The debut transaction, lead managed by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, will be priced today (Friday) in the 25bp area over US Treasuries. At the time of launch, the Fannie Mae 5.625% March 2001 benchmark note was trading at plus 24bp.