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The Republic of Panama pulled a $500m 20 year bond issue this week when investors, questioning its pricing and choice of lead manager, demanded a higher premium to comparable bonds. "Today, having filled orders to complete its issue, the Republic of Panama announced it decided not to price its 20 year offering because the rates offered were considered too high," the republic said in a statement.

Croatia's fledgling corporate debt markets are set for a major boost over the coming months with a number of new products set to be launched. They follow the establishment of a groundbreaking Hrk400m domestic commercial paper programme by Croatian pharmaceutical company Pliva last year - the first of its kind in the country. The programme's arranger Privredna Banka Zagreb is looking to add to the range of debt products currently available in Croatia, with the launch of index linked and euro denominated instruments.

The Republic of Slovenia tested investor sentiment toward central and eastern Europe last Friday with the launch of a tightly priced Eu400m 10 year issue. Lead managed by Credit Suisse First Boston and Morgan Stanley, the A3/A rated transaction featured a 4.875% coupon to give a margin of just 86bp over the 3.75% January 2009 Bund at the issue/ fixed re-offer price of 99.165.

SHARES IN UK property company Canary Wharf will be priced at between £2.80 and £3.50, according to the pathfinder prospectus published this week. The flotation, to be completed later this months, is being lead managed by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. The indicative range values the company at between £1.4bn to £1.7bn before 160m new shares have been sold. After the sale, the group will be worth between £1.8bn and £2.33bn, less than bankers' initial expectations of a value nearer £2.6bn.

CSFB HAS been appointed as global co-ordinator for the forthcoming sale of stock in Matav, the Hungarian national operator, after a particularly hard fought battle for the prestigious mandate. The deal should materialise in the second quarter of the year, if market conditions stabilise. Given the volatility surrounding both developed and emerging markets, the deal is likely to be executed on a swift timetable - possibly through an accelerated marketed offering to minimise the effect on Matav's outstanding shares.

Global co-ordinators Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan will launch the sale of stock in Debitel next week. Debitel is the largest German telecoms service provider, with activities in mobile, fixed-line and internet services. The group will be spun off from the recently merged Daimler-Chrysler Services and the local retail group, Metro Holding. The two sellers are offering around 20% of Debitel's equity capital to international and local equity investors in a deal which will be completed by the end of March.

Dresdner Kleinwort Benson has won the role of adviser to the Croatian government for the privatisation of telecoms concern Hrvatske Telekomunikacije (HT). The Anglo-German bank beat off fierce competition from ABN Amro Rothschild, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Bank and Salomon Smith Barney, all of which were shortlisted from an original group of 14 bidders.

Santander and Paribas have launched the sale of stock in Indra Systemas, the technology group being sold by the Spanish government. The government will sell 48.8m ordinary shares, which represents around 66% of Indra's equity capital. The sale should raise around Pta72bn ($467m) and will be the first of this year's privatisation sales on the Madrid market.

LEAD MANAGER Deutsche Bank has completed the sale of stock in Morphosys, the first German biotech company to list on the Neuer Markt. The company attracted exceptional demand for its IPO, and trading was unaffected by the tremors that rocked the market mid-week and by the gathering storm that led to the resignation of the country's finance minister Oskar Lafontaine.

Salomon Smith Barney has launched the $325m sale of stock in Christiania Bank. The Norwegian government will sell 16% of the bank's equity to bring its ownership down from 51% to 35% through the divestment of 90m ordinary shares. Salomon is keen to execute the deal quickly and will price the shares at the end of next week. Although the local market looks strong, increasing stockmarket volatility is damaging investors' confidence in the long term prospects for equity investment. In these conditions, swiftly executed deals will be the safest way to ensure successful equity offerings.

GLOBAL co-ordinator Enskilda Securities has launched the sale of stock in Teleste, the Finnish supplier of cable network equipment. The lead manager, taking advantage of the fact that institutions have comparatively few holdings in this sector, is marketing the shares to local and international equity investors with a view to completing the sale in two weeks' time.

Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette has appointed Alex Graham as managing director and head of European equity capital markets. He will join DLJ next month from BT Alex Brown, where he was head of global syndication and European equity capital markets. His career at BT Alex Brown was a brief one, having joined two years ago from Salomon Brothers where he was head of European equity capital markets and syndicate in London.