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THE TURKISH equity market is gearing up for a potentially critical bout of primary market activity, with the privatisation programme at last showing signs of progress and leading private sector groups also taking advantage of buoyant market valuations. Following the successful sale of a 12.5% stake in Turkiye Is Bankasi for $650m in May -- a landmark transaction which put privatisation back on the map in Turkey after several years of delays, political U-turns and controversy -- the government is keen to maintain the momentum.

GOLDMAN Sachs, HSBC, Barclays and Deutsche have closed the sub-underwriting phase for co-lead arrangers and co-arrangers of the $6bn senior debt facility backing Pearson Plc's bid with Hicks, Muse, Tate & Frusta for Simon Schusta, the US media firm being sold by Viacom. Appetite for the two levels was immense with over $10.75bn committed.

* Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (Freddie Mac) Rating: Aaa/AAA Amount: $4bn

* Centauri Corp Rating: Aaa/AAA

* CSFB is preparing the second securitisation of French commercial property for Vivendi, formerly known as Compagnie Générale des Eaux. Like CGE's Ffr2.02bn La Défense deal lead managed last October by Citibank, the new transaction will parcel rents on office blocks in Paris which CGE is selling to Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec.

BACOB, BBL and Bear Stearns this week brought the first securitisation for Belgium's local social housing leaders. The Bfr7.785bn deal, via special purpose vehicle Belsca SA, was a blow out -- all three bookrunners' allocations were oversubscribed.

Everyone is familiar with the idea of return on capital (ROC). If an investor makes an investment, he wishes to be sure of a good return on the capital invested.

* China Everbright International has received approval from the Securities and Futures Commission for a waiver on a general offer for Kumagai Gumi (HK) Ltd. China Everbright will subscribe to 90m new shares in the company, increasing its stake to 35.07% from 20.98%. * The memorandum of understanding with Ispat International on the privatisation of PT Krakatau Steel signed by the former president Suharto's government in its dying days has been cancelled.

* Renewed strength in the NT$/US dollar swap market allowed the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD) to re-open its recent NT$6.6bn issue with a further NT$4bn of bonds launched via Grand Cathay, bringing the total issue size to NT$10.6bn. Priced at 99.84 plus accrued interest from April 17 when the original deal was launched, the new issue has an equivalent issuing yield of 6.8% and a coupon of 6.75%.

* DKB International brought a ¥5bn repackaging of a single Japanese corporate loan this week. The bond matures in January 1999, and carries an annualised coupon of 0.91612%, paid at redemption. Dai-Ichi Kangyo International would only comment that the whole bond was placed with a single Japanese financial institution, but market participants believed the purpose of the transaction was to allow Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank to take a loan off its balance sheet. The Cayman Islands vehicle which issued the bond, Almighty Asset Funding Corp, launched two deals last year, lead managed by DKBI.

AMP THIS WEEK launched the most successful float in Australia's history but market euphoria was short lived as the Asian crisis bit into the Australian market. The deal marked the culmination of months of groundwork by the company and lead managers Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutsche Morgan Grenfell. Bankers labelled it an extraordinary transaction, unique in many respects. The institutional pricing mechanism had not been used before and may serve in future deals where institutional demand far outweighs supply, they said.

WHAT WAS intended to be the first T share issue * a Chinese company listed on the Tokyo exchange * was pulled last week as Asian markets went into freefall and concern mounted over the steady decline in the value of the yen. The Fed-led boost of the yen came too late to save the deal from Tianjin Automobile, which collapsed on Tuesday. Lead manager Daiwa Securities announced on behalf of the company that market conditions were to blame -- but a number of players in the markets questioned the logic of the deal in the first place.