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THE EUROPEAN high yield market took another step forward this week with the launch of the first junk bond to be denominated in the future European currency. The Eu235m for Cellular Communications International was launched on a discount basis, raising proceeds of Eu146.7m. These have been used by the company to refinance an existing dollar liability.

Croatia Lead managers Bayerische Landesbank Girozentrale and Bayerische Vereinsbank have signed the DM25m term loan for Croatia banka dd. Syndication was well supported, with an impressive oversubscription resulting in an increase of to DM30m. Bayerische Vereinsbank acted as co-ordinator and facility agent. Joining the two arrangers as managers with fees of 35bp flat were Banca Commerciale Italiana, Berliner Bank AG, Erste Bank der Oesterreichischen Sparkassen, Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino, Landesbank Schleswig-Holstein International, Vereins-und Westbank and GZB Bank-Genossenschaftliche Zentralbank. Lead managers' fees were 50bp flat. The loan has a margin of 110bp over Libor.

* Cellular Communications International Inc Rating: B2

* DePfa Finance NV Guarantor: Deutsche Pfandbrief- und Hypothekenbank AG

Argentina * Argentina Synthetic Sovereign Investments

France Bankers Trust and Citibank are planning to fund banks into the Ffr2.4bn debt facilities backing the LBO of Danone's non-yoghurt business on March 27. Some 27 banks have come into the deal and an oversubscription has been achieved in syndication.

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* Crédit Commercial de France Rating: Aa3/A1

BRAZILIAN bond issuance stepped up a gear this week as media group Globopar launched the first corporate benchmark bond of the year and BNDES, the national development bank, made an inaugural visit to the Ecu/euro market. Globopar's offering -- a $300m 10 year deal, with call options starting after five years -- had originally been planned for launch on October 24, the very day when the Hong Kong market crashed and Asia's turmoil spilled over into emerging markets around the world.

SBC WARBURG Dillon Read, UBS and ING Baring this week launched the global stock offering for Hagemeyer, the largest sale of corporate shares to be hosted by the Dutch market. The deal could raise as much as Dfl 3.9bn ($1.9bn) and will comprise the sale of stock to institutional and retail investors in the Dutch market as well as an institutional placement in the international markets and into the US via Rule 144A.

What is going on at SBC Warburg Dillon Read, one of the least happy hunting grounds in the Euromarkets at the present time? Is it true that the bank has been using the legendary Andy Siciliano for target practice and may even have asked whether he would like to be a human cannonball? As one of the guiding lights from O'Connor, which now runs most of the SBC show, we had always assumed that Siciliano was one of the very few people within the bank who didn't have to wear body armour. Was Siciliano blamed for making a total cock-up of the SBC Warburg-UBS integration in London? We have rarely seen a situation handled so ham-fistedly or incompetently. Recriminations have been rife on both sides and even the SBCW employees have been firing poisoned arrows at their own negotiators who are supposed to be in the driving seat.

A NEW borrower added to the growing diversity of high quality corporate names in the international bond markets this week when Diageo launched its maiden Euromarket transaction. Credit Suisse First Boston and JP Morgan lead managed the $500m five year deal, which follows recent benchmark offerings for corporates such as Sony Corp and Procter & Gamble.