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THE $480m global equity offering of stock in Chile's Banco Santiago fell victim to market turmoil yesterday (Thursday) when potential investors abandoned the deal indefinitely on the eve of pricing. Just hours before the deal was scheduled to be priced on Thursday evening, the central bank called joint lead managers Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch and suspended its sale of 22% of Banco Santiago common stock.

MEXICO reaffirmed its role as the pioneer among emerging market issuers this week with its debut C$500m six year global bond -- the first such issue by any emerging market borrower. The offering, joint lead managed by Merrill Lynch and Scotia McLeod, was launched with a coupon of 7% and a fixed price re-offer of 99.404, giving it a spread of 175bp over the June 2003 Canadian government bond.

SGS THOMSON, the semi-conductor manufacturer which is partially owned by the French and Italian governments, is coming to the market with a $2bn issue of new shares. The offering is essentially a partial privatisation which has been expected by market participants for some time. Many of the top tier investment banks have been pitching the two governments for a senior role in the transaction.

* Merrill Lynch completed the sale of primary stock in Vornado Realty Trust this week, raising a total of $630m for the company. The firm priced the shares on Tuesday at $45, a 2% discount to the closing price of $46. In pricing the offer, the lead manager took account of the fact that the share price had been trading steadily at around $45, rising to $46 on the day of pricing. The discount allowed investors to contribute towards demand in the aftermarket and shares have continued to trade at $46 this week.

GLOBAL co-ordinators Argentaria, Santander and Merrill Lynch have completed the Spanish government's sale of stock in its national electricity utility, Endesa. The deal was executed in extremely difficult market conditions. Following last week's news that Endesa's joint venture with Enersis of Chile may be under review, the deal was this week hit by a correction in the world's stockmarkets as the Madrid suffer from the growing chaos emanating from Asia.

* ABN AMRO Rothschild has launched the sale of stock in Holland Chemical International. The lead manager is marketing investors for their interest in the shares at between Dfl 36 and Dfl 40. Salesmen in the local market report that domestic investors have not been unduly affected by the correction which Amsterdam and other markets have suffered this week but that the issue price may not be set at the top of the range. The deal is well covered with high quality interest, which has not evaporated in the face of the 4% fall on the local bourse.

ROBERT Fleming and CentreInvest this week successfully married the Russian auction system with a western-style bookbuilding for the offer of shares in Uralmash, one of the country's leading heavy industry groups which specialises in the manufacture of mining excavation equipment. The deal closed last night and the issue price will be released today (Friday) following the collection of bids taken by Robert Fleming after sounding out investors at an indicated minimum price of $7.25.

ON WEDNESDAY night, immediately before one of the worst single-day market corrections on record, the French Trésor invited a team of investment bankers to bid to buy its last remaining stake in the privatised steel group Usinor Sacilor. The authorities own around 7.7% of the company, following an all but complete sell down in 1995. All that remains with the Trésor now is a residual holding which will be used to satisfy commitments to Usinor employees.

SBC WARBURG Dillon Read this week launched the sale of convertible bonds in Lukoil, Russia's largest oil company. The transaction is a landmark deal, offering investors $350m in six year high yield, premium exchangeable redeemable bonds with a rich conversion premium of 64% (giving a conversion price of $177.78 per GDR or $44.44 per ordinary share) and a tight semi-annual coupon of 1%. The financing was issued through a special purpose financing vehicle, LUKInter Finance BV, and has been rated by Standard & Poors at BB-. At these terms buyers can convert the bonds, known as HYPERbonds, into shares at any time during their life.

THE HUNGARIAN government this week launched the privatisation sale of stock in its national telecoms operator, Matáv. The deal is lead managed by Credit Suisse First Boston, Merrill Lynch and Creditanstalt. Matáv will become the first central European company to be listed on the NYSE and will be the fourth European telecom operator to be offered to international investors in the last month after Portugal Telecom, France Telecom and Telecom Italia. Salesmen in London point to several benefits which Matáv offers to telecom investors, such as its high levels of potential growth and a market which has put in an incredible 120% performance in the past 12 months.

FRENCH pharmaceuticals group Rhône-Poulenc has successfully raised Ffr6.7bn through a sale of shares and warrants. The deal was around three times oversubscribed and attracted high quality demand from a variety of accounts. Société Générale, UBS and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter acted as global co-ordinators with Crédit Lyonnais acting as senior co-lead manager.

China Nippon Life Insurance Co and Sumitomo Bank have been mandated to arrange a $50m term loan for China Petro-Chemical Corp (Sinopec).