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For the third year in a row, the first privatisation sale of the year looks set to come from Spain with the imminent launch of the final sale of stock in Argentaria, the banking and financial services group. Global co-ordinators Argentaria, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Santander Investments and BBV will begin pre-marketing the deal on January 20. There will be two weeks of bookbuilding involving roadshows in Europe and the US before pricing around February 17.

SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE and Paribas are emerging as the frontrunners for the mandate to advise on the forthcoming privatisation of Air France and as possible lead managers of a sale of shares in the airline. The French government has this week been reviewing pitches from international investment banks for the deal, which should involve a public stock offering, and most continental European firms are competing for some role in the transaction.

FOLLOWING UBS's success last year in launching a going public bond for GTS, the Swiss firm is preparing to join forces with bookrunner Merrill Lynch to take the group public. GTS, which is based in Richmond in the US, has assets in the Russian tele-coms market and has long been expected to list its shares in the US. The IPO will comprise US and European tranches in a $200m transaction that will result in a dual listing for the stock on Nasdaq and Easdaq. The deal will be launched shortly with pre-marketing to take place over three weeks. Pricing is to be set around February 3.

SAP, the fast growing Heidelberg- based software house, is to seek a listing for its shares in the US -- still a rare venture for German companies, which have traditionally steered clear of equity markets with onerous disclosure requirements. The company was founded only 25 years ago, by a group of IBM engineers, and went public in 1988.

SBC WARBURG Dillon Read re-opened the convertible market this week with the launch of a $125m issue for IBM through financing vehicle, IBM Credit Corp. The deal was a synthetic bond and was well received, allowing the lead managers to increase it from an originally mooted $100m. The bonds offer investors the opportunity to convert into the cash value of the Dow Jones Industrial Average at a conversion premium of 20% which represents a price of 9,482.72 against Wednesday's closing level of 7,902. IBM stock represents around 5.258% of the index.

BANKERS ARE waiting eagerly for an announcement from the Polish government nominating global co-ordinators for the privatisation sale of shares in Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA), the national telecom operator. The first leg of the pitch was completed just after Christmas and a shortlist of possible candidates will emerge early next week.

* The Finnish government is planning to revitalise its privatisation programme this year and is seeking a lead manager for the sale of shares in IVO Neste, the merged and diversified oil group. Finland is also likely to be one of several European governments to sell telecom stock this year. Finland Telecom is expected to be floated later this year with Merrill Lynch acting as global co-ordinator. The US firm may combine forces with a regional player as the local retail markets are expected to play an important role in the forthcoming flotation.

HSBC WILL today (Friday) launch its £400m convertible bond for National Grid, a deal mooted late last year and designed by the UK firm to help restructure the group's balance sheet. The terms of the convertible were approved by the National Grid's board last night. The coupon will be between 4% and 4.5%. There will be a premium redemption facility, giving investors a yield to maturity of just over Gilts. The bonds will rank pari passu with the group's existing debt, which is rated AA+ by Standard & Poor's.

Norway Lead arranger Bank of Nova Scotia has closed a $130m secured non-revolving credit facility for Leif Hoegh, the Norwegian shipping company. The loan was syndicated down to Landesbank Schleswig-Holstein Girozentrale, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken and Citibank.

US agency Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association) has scored a stunning success with the first in its planned series of jumbo global bonds. Investment bankers say the transaction could have a major impact on the international capital market, creating an asset class which attracts a whole new audience of investors that would normally buy only US Treasury bonds.

Just weeks after investors effectively denied Korea access to international capital markets, the country is poised to attempt a return. The beleaguered republic will in the next few days decide how to proceed with its financing programme.