France

Natixis has appointed François Riahi as its new CEO.

Abeo, the French producer of sports and leisure equipment, has issued its first Euro private placement note. The rarity of the sector, as well as the small intended volume, meant the leads could push for tighter pricing and more attractive terms.

Credit Mutuel CIC issued the widest 10 year French covered bond of this year on Monday, reflecting higher net supply in 2018 compared with previous years and less central bank buying activity. But with net supply set to fall, spreads should soon stabilise.

French telecoms company Iliad is becoming a frequent borrower in the corporate bond market. Two deals in six years have been followed by two deals in seven months. The company’s latest deal, a dual tranche offering, was its largest to date, but order books were barely 1.5 times oversubscribed.

A four week wait for a new corporate hybrid deal came to an end this week with $2.3bn of supply. The levels of oversubscription, however, showed that plenty of demand still remains as investors clamour for the enhanced yields on offer compared to senior debt.

French telecoms company Iliad is becoming a frequent borrower in the corporate bond market. Two deals in six years have been followed by two deals in seven months. The company’s latest deal, a dual tranche offering, was its largest to date, but order books were barely 1.5 times oversubscribed.

Bain Capital has begun pre-marketing for the Paris IPO of Autodis Group, the French distributor of spare vehicle parts, which it bought in October 2015.

Caisse Francaise De Financement Local (Caffil) found good demand for a €1.5bn 10 year with a final spread close to what it could have achieved before the covered bond purchase programme begun. The deal followed a €1bn five year from Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA).

French shopping centre operator Unibail-Rodamco said in December it planned to sell around €2bn of bonds to refinance the bridge loan it has taken on to fund its $15.7bn acquisition of its Australian peer Westfield Corp. On Monday, it brought the deal to market and received reassuring demand.

IHS Markit announced on Monday that it had acquired Paris-based DeriveXperts, a company that provides independent valuations of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives.

Caisse Francaise De Financement Local (Caffil) has mandated leads for a 10 year euro benchmark Obligation foncière, and after completing a roadshow last week, The Mortgage Society of Finland is set to open order books for sub-benchmark deal.

The investment grade corporate euro bond market had shown a steady return to strength after Easter. It was then tested by eight deals in two days, but showed it was capable of absorbing such volume, and tighter spreads may even be on the cards as French aerospace and defence company Thales achieved the lowest new issue premiums for a month.