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TOY maker Hong Fung Group Holding Ltd will today (Friday) launch a HK$50m IPO through Lippo Securities, opening up the Hong Kong new issue market this year. A total of 50m shares will be sold, priced at HK$1 each. That represents a p/e of 4.38 times on a proforma fully diluted basis and 3.48 on a weighted average basis.

TOPPAN Forms has successfully closed the largest ever global IPO from Japan to use a book-building process after expanding the international tranche of the deal to cope with huge demand. A syndicate official said an extremely positive roadshow for the business form printing company resulted in the international tranche of the deal being increased from 10m to 15m shares.

THREE JAPANESE equipment lease securitisations -- two of them sizeable Eurodollar deals -- were launched successfully last Friday despite the unusually plentiful supply of Japanese ABS product. SBC Warburg Dillon Read brought the latest issue from Japan Leasing Corp, by far the most regular international securitiser in the sector, while IBJ International sold bonds for a newcomer, IBJ Leasing Co. IBJ also placed a domestically targeted offshore lease securitisation.

LEADING Philippine fast food company Jolibee circumnavigated strict rules on foreign ownership last week with the launch of tradable warrants that act as shares and are listed on the Manila exchange. ING Barings arranged the long-mooted deal. Described as a 'Philippine-listed deep-in-the-money warrant' the paper trades on the stock exchange like a common share.

FOLLOWING THE recent lead of NTT and Toyota Motor Corp, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) returned to Japan's domestic bond market in size this week with its first public offering in nearly eight years. Raising ¥100bn ($782m) via a twin tranche offering led by Nomura and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, the deal was priced, however, outside of its indicative range following spread widening in the secondary market.

KOREA Standard & Poor's has announced a series of ratings actions on a number of Korea's commercial banks this week, lowering the local currency ratings, but lifting the long term foreign currency ratings of Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Korea Long-Term Credit Bank (KLTCB), Korean French Banking Corp and the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK). The agency declared that weakened financial conditions will continue, with a concurrent rise in losses on problem assets resulting from a contraction in the domestic economy.

THE Australian government has announced its intention to sell off a further stake in telecom company Telstra following the astounding success of the November 17 float, which had ABN Amro, Credit Suisse First Boston and JB Were as joint bookrunners. Prime minister John Howard said he will seek a mandate at the next election -- which must be held by March 1999 but is expected earlier -- to reduce the government's two thirds stake further. The move drew criticism from some investors, and analysts said it could depress the meteoric rise of the stock, which has gained almost 90% since its launch.

CABLE & WIRELESS Communications (CWC) has mandated a group of four banks to arrange a £2bn syndicated loan in the latest in an impressive list of UK corporates to tap the syndicated loan markets for jumbo facilities this year. Chase Manhattan, CIBC, Citibank and Banque Paribas were awarded the prized mandate late last week. Since then four underwriting co-arrangers have been brought in: ABN Amro, Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Nova Scotia and Société Générale.

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* The French government has announced that it will sell up to 47% of Air France, the 97% state-owned flagship carrier. While not going as far as full privatisations of other carriers in Italy, Spain and Portugal, the sale marks part of a move toward private ownership that will make the airline industry the 1998 equivalent of last year's telecoms bonanza in the equity new issue market.

* Barclays Bank plc Rating: Aa3/AA-

DONALDSON, Lufkin & Jenrette has swooped on São Paulo based investment bank Garantia and snapped up two of its best bankers as the Brazilian firm struggles with huge losses arising from the market meltdown last year. Within hours of Garantia reporting a 90% plunge in its net profit for 1997, DLJ announced that it had poached managing directors Jose Olympio and Eduardo Alcalay to jumpstart its Brazilian office.