France

French electrical equipment manufacturer Legrand used the same no-grow approach as on its previous two deals for the only new issue in the investment grade corporate bond market on Monday.

Assystem Technologies, a French engineering specialist owned by Ardian, is launching an add-on to its term loans to fund its purchase of German peer SQS Software Quality Systems, as merger and acquisition deals gain share in the leveraged loan market.

Investors did not require Crédit Agricole to pay any new issue premium for a €1.25bn offering of floating rate notes on Monday.

French property companies were in vogue this week as Icade sold its fourth corporate bond in two years, further extending its redemption profile, while Mercialys, the firm spun off from supermarkets group Casino, saw its sub-benchmark deal 2.5 times oversubscribed.

French car leasing company ALD printed its largest ever bond deal when it issued an €800m three year floating rate note this week, just three months after it had printed a similar but smaller deal. Chief financial officer Gilles Momper said the success of the deal was helped by the company’s IPO in 2017.

The French financial markets regulator clamped down on cryptocurrency derivatives on Thursday, setting out tighter regulation and an advertising ban for the products.

Nordea and BPCE helped revive covered bond market confidence on Wednesday after some lacklustre deal receptions at the start of this week, with the successes due to thoughtful consideration of tenor and pricing strategies.

BPCE chose to differentiate itself from other French issuers on Tuesday by mandating joint leads for the first French seven year of 2018.

French issuers ALD and Mercialys continued the triple-B theme of the week in the investment grade corporate bond market when the pair announced new deals on Tuesday. These followed three BBB+ rated credits on Monday.

French property company Icade saw the announcement that the 2024 Olympic Games will be held in Paris as a positive for its portfolio in the French capital. On Monday it sold its fourth corporate bond in two years, creating a steady redemption profile beyond the date of the Games.

French car parts maker Novares has pulled its €260m IPO on Euronext Paris as global equity market volatility meant that the deal could not be achieved at a level which was in "the best interests" of the company.

Europe’s speculative grade debt markets began cautiously weighing the impact of a recent surge of US-driven volatility this week. While high yield issuers remain circumspect, leveraged loan borrowers led by French calibration specialist Trescal are charging on, confident that investor demand remains strong.