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INDONESIAN petrochemicals company PT Eterindo Wahanatama is set to launch a $200m Yankee via Morgan Stanley, which looks likely to be the last bond issue of 1997 from Asia. The company will market itself as the beneficiary both of a downturn in the chemical industry's cycle and of the Asia-wide currency crisis, and hopes to benefit from the absence of any other debt-raising activity from the region's borrowers.

The Republic of Argentina will shortly launch a groundbreaking $300m five year variable rate note deal sole led by Merrill Lynch. The offering, due for pricing either today (Friday) or Monday, is Argentina's answer to the emerging market-wide dilemma of wanting to raise money now, but without having to lock in current high spreads for a long period of time.

* Turkmenistan has become the second central Asian republic to secure an international credit rating. Moody's Investors Service awarded the country a B2 long term foreign currency rating this week. The decision ranks Turkmenistan two notches below its central Asian peer Kazakhstan, which Moody's rates Ba3 -- on a par with Pakistan and Peru, and one notch above Bulgaria.

RUSSIA is lining up commercial and investment banks to provide a bridge financing of around $2bn to plug its widening budget gap. News of the facility -- likely to have a 12 month maturity and to be in either loan or FRN form -- comes as evidence mounted this week that Russia is facing a domestic liquidity squeeze.

Arranger Rabobank International has closed syndication of its £125m two tranche revolving credit facility for Aggreko plc, achieving a 25% oversubscription. The facility is split between a five year tranche and a one year portion.

MERRILL LYNCH this week sold the first multi-currency issue of cumulative perpetual preference shares for a European corporate, raising $360m for Italian food group Parmalat. Although the notes were targeted at debt investors, they will be treated as equity for balance sheet purposes and offer Parmalat an ideal funding source as it ventures into emerging markets.

* Against a background of buoyant secondary markets but quiet new issue markets, Merrill Lynch led a $756m offering this week for the Rhode Island based Fleet Financial Group. The secondary offering was announced Monday and was priced last night (Thursday) at $70.375, representing a slight discount to the close of $70.4375. The deal had been scheduled for launch next week, but the strength of demand enabled Merrill to speed up the timetable.

MEDIOBANCA, GOLDMAN Sachs and Schroders defied market conditions this week to successfully complete the Lit4.9tr ($2.45bn) equity offering for Banca di Roma, Italy's second largest banking group. The deal comprised an offering of ordinary shares and the sale of exchangeable bonds, both of which were well oversubscribed. The deal established a core of institutional and retail investors for the bank at a time when fund managers are nervous about the long term.

LEAD MANAGERS UBS and Erste Bank this week completed the largest ever IPO for an Austrian company, raising Asch7bn ($560m) in a global offering of 10.02m Erste Bank shares. Salesman said that the deal was a tough sell, reflecting poor market conditions and the slowdown in investor interest in the approach to Christmas.

* Merrill Lynch and Argentaria have launched the sale of stock in Spanish construction company Actividades de Construcción y Servicios (ACS). This is a secondary offering with existing shareholders selling stock to raise cash so they can take part in the company's rights issue. The international and domestic tranches total 14.183m shares while there is a greenshoe option of an additional 1.8m shares. ACS is already listed in Madrid and its shares were trading this week in a Pta3,620 to Pta3,650 range.

SOCIETE GENERALE has begun marketing the IPO of French teleconferencing company Genesys, which is likely to be the last international offering from the country this year. The deal could raise up to Ffr200m with most of the proceeds accruing to the company. Some 1.186m ordinary shares are being offered to investors and Genesys plans to list its stock on the Nouveau Marché after the offering. In addition to the capital increase, shares are being sold by BNP, whose stake will fall from 35.5% to 16%. CDC will sell down from 26.7% to 12.3%, the stake of Worms & Cie will fall from 12.5% to 4.8%, GBG will cut its stake from 4.7% to 3.5% and the holding of Vertex will fall from 14.1% to 10.3%.

MERRILL LYNCH and Merita this week won the prized advisory mandate for the sale of Telecom Finland, one of a series of privatisations to emerge from the Nordic region next year. Finnish analysts expect the deal to take place in the second half of 1998 with the stock listed on several regional bourses and possibly the New York Stock Exchange. They also believe there will be a substantial free float, although the Finnish authorities have not indicated how much of the company will be sold. Bankers estimate that the company is worth as much as $7.7bn.