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BANKERS THIS week began making initial presentations for what could be the largest share issue out of Austria, the privatisation of Post & Telekom Austria (PTA). Adviser and global co-ordinator mandates are up for grabs and are attracting considerable interest from international and Austrian investment banks.

AS PREDICTED in Euroweek last week, lead manager HSBC has launched the sale of £400m in exchangeable bonds for National Grid Company plc. The deal was mooted at the end of last year when the company sought approval from majority shareholders. It is the first time such a structure has been launched in the UK. The 10 year bonds offered investors a semi-annual coupon of

* Credit Suisse First Boston is poised to launch the sale of stock in Bank Pekao SA of Poland. The deal will raise around $150m and is one of the most eagerly awaited transactions from eastern Europe. * The French Stock Exchange is considering selling shares to outside investors and listing the shares in the next two years, although discussions are still in the early stages.

THE SUPPLY of equity from German corporates is set to surge in 1998 for the third year in a row as the country's blue chips launch opportunistic issues while high growth companies prepare plans to float. One of the first major issues could come from Lufthansa Service Gesellschaft (LSG), a subsidiary of the national airline. Lufthansa will decide in the first six months of this year whether to float the unit.

THE ITALIAN government is limbering up to float several middle to large cap corporates as its privatisation programme enters a new stage. After scoring a major success last year with the jumbo sale of shares in Telecom Italia, Italy this year is planning to sell stock in Autostrade, Eni and possibly electricity utility Enel. There will also be a sale of shares in Siapem, which is indirectly owned by the government through majority shareholder Eni.

INVESTMENT bankers are lining up a handful of equity offerings from the Middle East as investors cautiously consider investing in emerging markets once more. In the first of the next wave of issues from the region, Merrill Lynch last week launched the sale of stock in Banque du Liban et d'Outre-Mer (Blom). The deal is gathering pace with a book which is particularly well subscribed from local institutional investors.

JP MORGAN this week disclosed that it has won the top slot to lead manage the forthcoming $1bn sale of stock in Gillette, the personal care products company. This is a major coup for the US firm, which has been patiently building a niche for itself in the domestic and global equity capital markets, as it had to beat off competition from most of Wall Street for the deal.

MORGAN STANLEY Dean Witter this week completed the first bought deal of the year -- and also one of the largest such transactions in recent months. The £260m deal was for shares in Great Universal Stores, owner of Burberry and retail mail order businesses and a financial services group. The company is publicly traded in London and widely owned by institutional investors.

SALOMON SMITH Barney has won the prestigious mandate to be global co-ordinator for the sale of shares in Türkiye Is Bankasi (Is Bank), the largest Turkish bank. The transaction, through which the government will sell its entire 12.3% stake, will raise between $600m and $800m -- making it easily the largest to be completed in the Istanbul market.

UBS AND ING Barings have won the prized mandate to lead the $1.6bn sale of stock in Hagermeyer, the Dutch listed group. The deal, representing 40% of the company's equity, will be launched next month for completion in March. The shares are being sold by First Pacific Corp, which is divesting its entire stake in Hagermeyer as part of a disposal programme to shore up capital. The 40m ordinary shares will be sold through a global offering, which may also involve a buy-back by the company and a convertible preference share issue.

* As in most years, the US equity market has been quiet at the beginning of January. However, the pipeline is building and Merrill Lynch, continuing its form of last year, has been busy. It is already marketing, for instance, the flotation for ElderTrust, a Florida based REIT and one of the few healthcare REITs to come to the market in recent years.

China Arranger Standard Chartered Bank is inviting banks to join a $20m financing for Guangdong International Trust & Investment Corp, Shenzhen.