France

Sofina, the Belgian investment company, sold the last of its stake in Eurazeo, the French private equity firm, on Tuesday night through a block trade led by Société Générale in which Eurazeo bought back 1m of its shares.

The first round of the French presidential election takes place this Sunday and, while the market is mostly quiet, Derek Halpenny, head of global markets research at MUFG, says that market participants have not priced in much risk of a shock anti-EU result.

A hotly contested battle for the French presidency has quieted much of the public sector market this week, but KfW has picked banks for a five year euro benchmark.

Bankers active in UK equity capital markets were as surprised as anyone about Prime Minister Theresa May’s decision on Tuesday to call a snap general election on June 8. But they were calm about the risk of it disrupting issuance.

The French presidential election saga has taken another twist, with far-right candidate Marine Le Pen’s chances slipping — but those of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, from the other extreme of the political spectrum, rising. Asian investors are pulling back from deals until the election hurdle is cleared, say issuers — but the rise of Mélenchon may also provide an earlier than expected relief rally.

Expecting the unexpected has been market philosophy since the Brexit vote last June. Adherents may well have thought that made Marine Le Pen a certainty to win this year’s French presidential election.

Guarantor: Republic of France

The corporate bond market came to a standstill on Wednesday, prompting investors to warn issuers deciding to wait until after the Easter break that they will likely be forced to pay up.

The euro high yield market closed the week before the Easter break in strong form, with bonds from Burger King France and Colfax, the US gas company.

Michel Péretié, the ex-chief executive of Société Générale CIB, has backed the creation of a new SME bank focused on the Benelux region and Germany.

Wobbles in eurozone government bond secondaries this week failed to deter a strong showing from a pair of public sector issuers in primary on Tuesday. Unédic found strong demand and tightened from guidance on its longest dated benchmark ever, while Austria broke a series of records with a 10 year euro benchmark.

Once France broke international records for sovereign defaults, thanks to wars, money printing and dodgy liability management.