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THE ROADSHOW for palm oil plantation PT Astra Agro Lestari (Astra Agro) ends today (Friday). Bankers close to the deal say the price will be set on Monday at a ratio to earnings of 10% to 25% of the p/e of London Sumatra's (Lonsum), the only listed crude palm oil plantation listed in Indonesia. Astra Agro's bookbuilding price range is between Rph1,550 and Rph1,650 per share. Some 125.8m shares, representing a 10% stake, are for sale to raise between $57.7m and $61.4m, according to global co-ordinator ABN AMRO Rothschild. Co-leads are Astra Securities, Bahana Securities, Crédit Lyonnais, Jardine Fleming and Mitra Duta Sekuritas.

THE AMBITIOUS combined equity financing from Indonesia's Asia Pulp and Paper group (APP) drew a sharply divided response from the market following its pricing earlier this week. Equity specialists highlighted the fact that the twin ADR and Lyons (Liquid Yield Options Note) transaction had been restructured on extremely generous terms, whereas debt specialists argued that in comparison to the group's outstanding Eurobonds, the final terms were too aggressive to support a strong investor response.

THE LONG DELAYED rights offering by Benpres, the holding company of the diversified Philippines-based Lopez family, was finally launched last week, but the terms surprised several bankers. In addition to being priced at a steeper discount than initially expected in September when the deal was last primed for launch, bankers said that the long lead time before the issue closes on December 1 creates significant investment risk in volatile market conditions.

A FOURTH supranational seeking to access Taiwan's domestic bond market has filed an application with the republic's SEC, although bankers believe that the issue is unlikely to emerge this year unless the currency markets show signs of stability. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has mandated Citicorp to raise NT$6bn ($193m) via a five year fixed rate bond and the borrower is applying for tax exempt status.

THE FIRST IPO from Hong Kong to brave the stockmarket rout will be launched on an accelerated basis next week, with Crédit Lyonnais leading a 280m share offering for Lai Fung Holdings Ltd, the China property arm of the diversified conglomerate Lai Sun Development. Roadshows begin in Singapore on Monday and the Hong Kong IPO will open concurrent to roadshows in Hong Kong on Tuesday. Pricing is scheduled for Friday, with an 83%/17% split between international and retail investors.

GLOBAL co-ordinators Credit Suisse First Boston, Merrill Lynch and Creditanstalt this week defied extremely turbulent equity market conditions to complete the landmark $773.8m flotation of Matav, Hungary's national telecoms operator. The deal marks the largest share offering yet from central and eastern Europe, by a margin of some $250m, and represents the first listing by a Hungarian company on the New York Stock Exchange.

Robert Fleming is to join forces with Daiwa Europe to run the books on the $50m international sale of stock in Kredyt Bank PBI, one of Poland's top 10 financial institutions. Despite the volatility in world stockmarkets, and in emerging markets in particular, bankers believe there should be robust demand from investors for one of Poland's few privately owned banks.

VENEZUELAN finance minister Luis Ral Matos Azocar vowed this week to continue to restructure the country's Brady bond debt, despite controversy over the recent $4.4bn Brady bond retirement in a $4bn 30-year global bond exchange offer which led to calls for his dismissal in the Venezuelan congress. "I don't believe the process of reducing debt can be delayed just because of congress's attitude, or rather some of its members," Matos said this week.

THE PORTUGUESE government this week increased the privatisation sale of Brisa Auto Estradas de Portugal, the national motorway operator, in the face of overwhelming demand from domestic retail investors. Although the deal was launched only last week, individual investors have already registered for more than 1.18bn shares compared to the 21m shares on offer.

* Svenska Export Kredit Rating: Aa3/AA+ Amount: Pta5bn

* Frogmore Estates plc Guarantor: Frogmore Investments Ltd, Frogmore Developments Ltd

DEUTSCHE Morgan Grenfell this week successfully sold a Dfl 110m convertible for Dutch manufacturer Schuttesveld as investors lapped up a rare opportunity to buy quality equity-linked debt. The deal was launched early this week and was well placed with convertible and equity investors. The coupon was set at 2.75%, compared to indicated terms of 1.5% to 3%, and the bonds are convertible into Schuttesveld common stock at a premium of 21% versus an indicated range of 18% to 22%.