France

Read on to see how French agencies have progressed through their 2016 funding programmes.

BNP Paribas reopened the euro tier two market on Friday with a sharply priced trade, the first capital deal of any sort from a European bank in over seven weeks.

Technip, the French oilfield services and engineering group, launched on Thursday evening a €75m tap of its €375m equity-neutral convertible bond, issued in January, for a further €75m, after the bond and stock had traded up strongly.

Prodware Group, the French software vendor, has issued a €79m Euro PP.

BPCE fully exited its stake in French real estate firm Nexity on Tuesday, as it sold €283m-worth of shares through a block trade led by Société Générale.

Groupe Capelli, the French housing construction group, has raised €14.2m through a debut Euro private placement, in two tranches.

Alès Groupe, the French cosmetics company, has issued a €60m European private placement, its first bond issue in that format.

The long end of the euro curve is wide open for public sector borrowers, after a pair of issuers printed deals this week and speculation grew that further central bank stimulus is on the way.

Unédic joined a mini resurgence in the 10 year part of the euro curve with the third new issue in the tenor in two weeks, following a one month dearth of supply.

Areva, the nuclear power construction firm 87% owned by the French government, has signed a €1.1bn bridge loan with six banks to “ensure the company’s liquidity for the 2016 fiscal year”.

Crédit Agricole explicitly backed the newly proposed type of French senior debt in its full year results this week, as support for the asset class appears to be spreading across the country’s financial institutions.

Crédit Agricole penned an €18bn deal to simplify its complex ownership structure, something investors have long criticised, to boost its capital base and allow it to pay dividends fully in cash.