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The equitY capital markets were buzzing this week with the news that Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs had won the mandate to lead manage the sale of stock in Lycos Europe, the joint venture between US internet company Lycos and Bertelsmann. The offer is likely to be structured as an international public offer with a listing on Frankfurt's Neuer Markt. The top positions in distributing the shares have been fiercely contested by a number of US and European firms.

Deutsche Bank this week completed one of the largest bought deals of the final quarter with a Sfr1bn ($639m) sale of shares in Charles Vögele, the Swiss clothing retailer. The placing was executed on behalf of Schroder Ventures, which bought control the company in a management buy-out and whose attempted flotation of the group earlier this year ran into a degree of investor resistance.

Lead arranger Dresdner Bank Luxembourg and senior co-arranger HypoVereinsbank have signed in lenders to the DM1.55bn debt package backing BC Partners' buy-out of Friedrich Grohe, the sanitary fittings manufacturer. Over DM2.8bn was raised for the deal - the largest LBO to emerge from Germany. Due to the massive oversubscription, lenders were severely cut back. However, other banks are still in the final approval stage and may join the syndicate before the signing of the transfer agreement. This could lead to a further reduction of the final allocated amounts.

THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank is set to announce plans for the creation of a sterling dealer group before the end of the year in a move the supranational hopes will place it in pole position to take advantage of the Gilts shortage.

THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank is set to announce plans for the creation of a sterling dealer group before the end of the year in a move the supranational hopes will place it in pole position to take advantage of the Gilts shortage.

EL SITIO, an Argentine-based internet network, stunned the Latin equity new issue market yesterday (Thursday) with a blow-out $131.2m initial public offering, by far the most successful IPO from the region in several years. The company's 8.2m ADSs were priced at $16 on Thursday evening, above the $13 to $15 price range, which was itself increased on Thursday morning from an original $11 to $13 range.

Argentina * Republic of Argentina

Chase Manhattan has won the mandate to arrange a Nkr2bn eight year facility for Enitel, a Norwegian telecoms network operator that is making the next move in the restructuring of the Nordic telecoms sector by buying Telia Norge. The target is owned by Swedish state telecoms operator Telia. Once the acquisition has gone through, the new company will be the main competition for Nelenor, the Norwegian state owned telecoms operator.

* Bikuben Girobank A/S - BG Bank Rating: A2

GOLDMAN SACHS will today (Friday) send out documentation to banks that have committed as co-arrangers in the £675m loan supporting the acquisition of the telecoms division of Racal Electronics by Global Crossing. Euroweek understands that four banks have already committed, but that three more are still looking at the deal and will probably join on Monday.

The buoyant tone of the high yield market prompted a spate of opportunistic funding this week as Europe's speculative grade telecom companies rushed to take advantage of the continuing liquidity in the market. Market veteran Colt Telecom and Spanish start-up Jazztel both priced high yield bonds concurrently with equity offerings (see equity section) in the hope of capitalising on the renewed positive sentiment sweeping the telecom sector following Mannesmann's takeover of Orange and Newtel's bid for Esat.

The capital markets’ infatuation with fast growing telecom companies was graphically underlined this week when Eu2.125bn was raised by three operators — Versatel, Jazztel and Colt Telecom — in just 48 hours.