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COMMERZBANK has launched a DM15m ($9.1m) share buyback for Kogel, the German automotive components company. The bank has indicated a range of prices that investors can use to sell their shares to the company using a reverse bookbuilding system. The deal size may be small, but the transaction marks the first time such a method has been employed to achieve a buyback price and bankers in the local market expect it to be used by other companies seeking to enhance shareholder value through a stock re-purchase.

AGAINST a background of a slowdown in the rest of Europe, the Netherlands has experienced a rally in equity activity over the past couple of weeks. In a still a less than perfect environment for small cap companies, high tech stocks are well up the list of favourites for small cap funds. Rabo Securities completed the IPO for computer services company KSI International late last week, raising some Dfl 55m. Investors were offered a total of 3.666m shares, a third of those sold by the company.

ELAN, the Irish pharmaceuticals group, raised $750m this week through the sale of Liquid Yield Option Notes (Lyons) via Merrill Lynch, taking advantage of a bullish week for pharmaceutical stocks. "This was a perfectly timed deal that accessed an important area of demand," said a salesman. The deal tapped into a market teaming with activity in the pharmaceuticals, drugs and chemicals sectors.

THE SPANISH government is seeking to take advantage of recovering stockmarkets to continue its hugely successful privatisation programme and may sell a stake in pulp and paper group, Ence, as early as the first quarter. Traditionally, European governments are reluctant to approach the markets early in the year, although Spain has been the exception. Its first large deal of 1998 was the sale of stock in Argentaria, in January. Before that, the government sold its final chunk of Repsol stock in January 1996.

MERRILL Lynch has completed the highly successful offering of convertible bonds for Airtours, the world's largest holiday tour operator. The lead manager marketed the £250m deal, which was launched two weeks ago, to dedicated convertible investors. The issue is a boost for the UK convertible market, which has been relatively quiet this year, and could be a precursor to a busier 1999.

THE SECOND largest radio station in the US went public this week, raising a total of $2.87bn, putting it just behind Conoco's IPO in terms of size. The IPO for Infinity Broadcasting was part of a spin-off by parent company CBS Corp of its radio network. The deal had been closely watched since the firm filed with the SEC in September. Although some observers questioned the high valuation of the offering, investors were attracted by Infinity's strong profile and healthy profits. Last year its profits more than doubled compared to 1996.

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* The Province of Naples has mandated Merrill Lynch to arrange a Eu250m Euro-MTN programme. The programme is rated Aa3 by Moody's, and Naples becomes the first Italian province to be rated. The facility is the first Euro-MTN programme from an Italian province.

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DO WE SENSE the winds of change within the debt capital markets group at Merrill Lynch? If you are mentally saying to yourself, "and about time too", you are being unnecessarily churlish. However, we have been saying for weeks that Merrill's bondies had lost their fizz and sparkle. Didn't we recommend that Merrill kick some tired old butt out of the door and bring in new blood?

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