Frankel & Company, a marketing and promotion agency in Chicago, has decided to postpone an initial public offering of shares, citing unfavorable market conditions.

Common Stock * Adaptec Inc., Milpitas, Calif., has postponed a planned offering of two million common shares because of unfavorable market conditions.

PayPal postponed a planned offering last week after it was sued for patent infringement.

Last year, as the price fell, it had to postpone a public offering of additional shares that was expected to relieve Japan's budget deficit and pay for a range of programs.

His firm last month postponed an offering of $156 million of bonds for Ethan Allen & Company, a furniture retailer.

Yesterday, citing an unfavorable market, Qualcomm postponed a public offering of stock in its chip manufacturing business, part of a plan to spin the unit off to investors.

One issuer that cannot postpone an offering is New York City, which as soon as today may be offering $1.3 billion of short-term revenue anticipation notes.

Nextwave, which owes the Government a $274 million installment payment this year for its licenses, has been struggling to raise money and has had to postpone a public offering of stock.

The company, which postponed a public offering last year, has also had trouble meeting its commitments.

Merck was not the only company to postpone an initial offering yesterday.