France

Private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners has signed €673m of debt facilities to back its acquisition of French energy infrastructure and services company Idex.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has unveiled regulatory relief for EU counterparties that have non-cleared derivatives agreements with UK entities. The measures aim to help alleviate increased costs that may kick in due to a no-deal Brexit.

BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole and Société Générale are making plans for the eventuality of a hard Brexit, in some cases putting swathes of bankers at risk of redundancy. Some DCM and sales teams have been asked to move, though each bank is taking a different approach as to who will need to be relocated to comply with EU regulations.

Goldman Sachs was left long of stock in Bureau Veritas, the certification agency, after a €400m block trade on behalf of Wendel on Monday night.

A funding official at KfW has switched to the corporate sector.

France’s AccorHotels has bought its Paris head office for €363m, drawing on a new green loan to finance the acquisition.

After scrapping its first attempt to issue Obligations Foncières last month, My Money Bank was finally able to complete its covered bond deal on Wednesday — but subscription levels were muted.

Consolis, the French concrete producer owned by Bain Capital, has abandoned its €135m IPO on Euronext Paris, blaming volatile markets.

The UK’s B&M will move into the French retail sector with a debt-financed acquisition of discount retailer Babou.

Swedish Covered Bond Corp (SCBC) had a tough time on Tuesday attracting a convincing order book for its fourth covered bond of the year, possibly reflecting difficult market conditions, its frequency of issuance and the tenor of its deal. In contrast, Crédit Mutuel Arkéa managed to quickly pull in demand for a shorter deal.

Société Générale (SocGen) has made two senior management changes in China, expanding its business ambitions in the region.

French renewable energy producer Neoen, the largest French IPO of the year, is up by over 8% in trading joining a number of new listings, which have survived volatile markets to stay above water.