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SPAIN'S national telecoms operator, Telefónica, will shortly announce the banks mandated for the $500m sale of stock in Telefónica Publicidad e Información (TPI), its wholly owned yellow pages business. The deal, likely to come at the end of the first quarter, will be one of the most important corporate deals in the Madrid stockmarket next year.

MORGAN STANLEY Dean Witter and KBC Bank have launched a DM850m convertible bond for KBC International. The bonds represent a capital increase for the bank, the third largest financial institution in the Benelux, with a capitalisation of around $20bn. With only a few weeks to go before investors close the books for the year, lead managers are making the most of the still strong demand for convertible bonds, with the launch of several deals rumoured in the European and US markets.

ABN AMRO Rothschild this week launched the flotation of Magnus Holding, the Dutch high-tech company. The mounting interest in high-tech stocks and the continued recovery in the world's stockmarkets allowed the lead manager to launch the deal in accordance with its previous timetable -- something that rival bankers would have thought impossible just a month ago.

THREE IPOs in the coming weeks may provide convincing testimony to the recovery of new issue volumes in Germany's Neuer Markt and the rising interest from retail and international investors. Although the market never suffered a total collapse in demand -- and the steep associated corrections in stock prices -- the supply of new companies heading for a listing has dried up over the last weeks.

BOTH NEW and secondary issues performed strongly this week as the US equity markets continued their rebound of the previous few weeks. Goldman Sachs completed the secondary offering for mortgage fund provider Freddie Mac, raising some $879m. The company offered 15m shares, mainly to US investors. Goldman priced the stock at $58.625, representing the close on Monday. The stock had climbed slightly since the deal was announced, when it was trading at around $57. There is an additional over-allotment option for 2.25m shares.

A FLOOD of new listings from the country's private corporates is poised to come to the Italian equity market over the coming weeks. The mood of the market is much improved -- losses incurred during the third quarter have been recovered -- and bankers consider the current market environment strong enough to absorb deals before the year end.

* Beresford, the UK manufacturer of kitchen equipment, is considering a listing for its stock in New York. The group is looking at ways of enhancing shareholder value.

LEAD MANAGER Warburg Dillon Read has completed a highly successful offering of shares in Panafon, the leading Greek mobile phone company. The sale triumphed despite market practitioners' warnings that international investors would have little appetite for a deal from an emerging market. This pessimism had already been proved misplaced two weeks ago when CSFB, National Bank of Greece and Salomon Smith Barney completed the sale of the government's shares in OTE, the national telecom operator. That deal defied all the odds and reached a successful conclusion after establishing a firm base of existing and new shareholders for the company's equity.

GLOBAL co-ordinators Banque Paribas and BNP appear to be on course for success with the privatisation sale and convertible bond offering for France Télécom. The two firms have closed the books on the convertible with the level of demand far in excess of the number of bonds on offer.

CONVENTUM, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Warburg Dillon Read have launched the Finnish government's $500m sale of stock in Fortum, the national energy utility formed as a result of the merger of the oil group, Neste, and the electricity group, IVO. As foreshadowed by Euroweek last week, the lead managers received the go-ahead from the government over the weekend and have started premarketing the deal to international and local investors.

LEAD MANAGER Enskilda Securities and co-lead manager Aros Securities have launched the first international sale of stock from a Danish issuer since the market's third quarter correction. The two firms have opened the books on the sale of stock in Eurocom Industries (ECI), the maritime communications goods manufacturer.

MERRILL Lynch has scored a notable coup over competing banks after it was awarded the top advisory role on Old Mutual's London listing. As one of South Africa's oldest and largest insurers, the group has long made clear its intention to list in London. This sparked controversy this year when the government reacted angrily to claims from other corporate groups that they too may leave the Johannesburg SE.