Eastern Europe Corporate News Round-Up

- Biorex, the Hungarian biotechnology company in which AbbottLaboratories has a 19% stake (Marketletter October 13), is considering flotation next year either on the London Stock Exchange or Nasdaq, having postponed the move earlier this year following the Abbott deal. Biorex also hopes to raise an extra $10 million from a private placement and plans to raise $50 million in 1998 in a public offering.

- The Croatian government may delay its international share offering in Pliva (Marketletter October 20) until global stock markets stabilize, following the turmoil that hit world bourses. Indications at the time of the issue's launch last month suggested the offer could be valued at up to $280 million, reports the Financial Times.

- The owners of Estonia's Tallinna Farmaatsiathas and Latvia's Grindex drugs producers are continuing talks on a merger, despite reports that the owners (the Estonian Investment Bank and the Magnum Group, respectively) of the two companies had disagreed over the terms of a possible agreement, according to the Baltic News Service. The Latvian Privatization Agency has said that it will sell 10% of the shares in Grindex by auction, which is expected to help fix a price for the company, facilitating negotiations.