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Salomon Smith Barney and Macquarie Bank enjoyed a successful first week of roadshows in Europe marketing the A$150m equity issue for AAP Telecommunications, which is hoping to lure investors with news of its recent internet acquisitions and new internet focused strategy. A final size has yet to be set for the deal; as with all Australian issues that will depend on the bookbuild which will not officially start until the final days of roadshowing. Pricing is expected on March 10 at a slight discount to the share's market price.

Banks have begun tentative pre-marketing for Siam Commercial Bank's (SCB) $1.75bn equity fundraising, with some details emerging despite the issuer's reluctance to officially name syndicate members. Around 6.4bn new shares will be issued; SCB's executive director said that 220m of shares would be reserved for the conversion of outstanding convertible bonds. The remainder will be sold in the form of preferred shares with warrants attached to buy a matching percentage from the government at a later date.

Central and eastern Europe's top rated sovereign, the Republic of Slovenia, this week completed the roadshow for its planned Eu400m 10 year offering. The A3/A rated issuer, one of five central and eastern European states negotiating fast track entry in to the European Union, visited Zurich, Frankfurt, Milan, Paris and London. Joint leads Credit Suisse First Boston and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter reported a positive reception from the target audience of European fund managers.

Union Bank of Estonia (UBE) has become the first central and eastern European bank to raise funds in euros. Last Friday the Baa3/BBB- rated bank issued a Eu50m three year floating rate note via Lehman Brothers.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has launched the first issue off its newly established Ck30bn domestic MTN programme. Lead managed by Commerzbank Capital Markets (Eastern Europe), which also arranged the programme, the Ck3bn 10 year bond yielded the equivalent of 40bp through Pribor.

Russia's restructuring of its GKO/OFZ debt markets took an unexpected turn this week when members of the 19-strong committee of banks negotiating on behalf of foreign creditors voted to abolish the position of chair, held by Deutsche Bank. Deutsche incurred the wrath of its fellow committee members when it agreed unilaterally to accept the terms offered by the Russian government in respect of some of its proprietary holdings and those of some of its clients - a move rival bankers claimed made a mockery of Deutsche's position as chair.

Robert Fleming, Cazenove and Goldman Sachs have completed the sale of stock in South African Breweries (SAB), one of the country's most prestigious corporate names and the world's fourth largest brewing group. The lead managers raised around £300m by selling 70.18m shares to investors at 428p. Some 35.05m primary shares and 35.13m secondary shares were sold.

MORSE, the UK computer systems retailer and services group, has been valued at around £336m, according to the pathfinder prospectus published this week for the group's flotation. Merrill Lynch is global co-ordinator for the deal, which should be completed in the next few weeks.

Dresdner Kleinwort Benson has completed the sale of stock in Mannheim electricity group MVV Energie, the first flotation of a municipal utility to be hosted by the Frankfurt market. Investors appreciated the scarcity value of the shares and put in strong orders, resulting in a book of demand three times covered. "This deal appealed to investors that are not interested in the deluge of inflated Neuer Markt stocks that is flooding the Frankfurt market," said one salesman. "This share offers a defensive sector with some growth opportunities from the industry's deregulation."

The Italian treasury has appointed Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and NM Rothschild as advisers on the sale of its 3.4% stake in Telecom Italia. The government is keen to execute its divestment to distance itself from the takeover battle between Olivetti and the national operator. Salvatore Cardinale, the communications minister, said the judgement on the takeover would be as rapid as possible, "given the delicate profile of the entire situation before us."

Lead manager Morgan Stanley Dean Witter has executed the Eu786.693m sale of exchangeable bonds into Axa, the French insurance giant. The deal is the second equity-linked debt deal backed by Axa shares this year. Three weeks ago Banque Paribas, DLJ and Goldman Sachs launched the Eu1.32bn sale of 15 year bonds exchangeable into Axa shares. The bonds were priced with a 2.5% coupon and a conversion premium of 29.10%.

GLOBAL co-ordinator Salomon Smith Barney will next week launch the sale of stock in Christiania Bank in a deal that will raise around Nkr2.8bn ($350m). The deal will be the first of this year's large bank stock sales from the Nordic region. The region's markets were due to host several such divestments last year, but many were put on hold as international investors re-rated financial stocks in the light of the global financial crisis.