France

BPCE, the French banking group, sold a €151m block of shares in Nexity, the French real estate firm, on Tuesday evening, as it continued to implement its plan to divest non-core assets.

China concerns have failed to dissuade European corporate borrowers from going about their capital markets business this week, with a number of bonds in the works and acquisition loans progressing.

Citigroup has hired Deutsche Bank’s head of equity capital markets for France to build its market share across France, Benelux and Switzerland.

Agence Française de Développement sold a dollar syndication on Tuesday, but with the latest statement from the US Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee due on Wednesday further deals are unlikely this week, said SSA bankers.

Multiple listings of ETFs could become a smart strategy for firms looking to attract a broader investor base for products sold under the renminbi qualified foreign institutional investors (RQFII) scheme. An RQFII ETF that was first listed in London was recently taken to Euronext Paris via Euroclear Bank, and Euroclear reckons the move is paving the way for others to exploit RMB alternatives.

Tobam, a Paris asset manager, is preparing to launch new funds in European credit and emerging market debt, which will bring its innovative investing approach to European fixed income for the first time.

French rail operator SNCF Réseau joined the 100 club this week and now wants to print more ultra-long debt, but investors and MTN dealers doubt demand will support it. Jonathan Breen reports.

Synlab, the German laboratory services provider, is being acquired by private equity firm Cinven. The deal will be partly funded with €1.08bn of high yield debt which was priced on Thursday.

Credit Foncier de France is out with its second RMBS of the year. CFHL-2 2015 may not come with the special regulatory treatment of the issuer’s covered bonds, but the deal offers a spread that looks particularly alluring for the risk. A major investor of covered bonds and securitizations said RMBS offer far better risk return than covered bonds, and chastised fellow investors for their lazy approach to assessing credit risk.

World Bank joined a swarm of issuers looking to print in the dollar market with a mandate on Tuesday for the first 10 year benchmark in seven weeks.

DomusVi, the French operator of private care homes for the elderly, announced on Tuesday a €125m tap of its subsidiary HomeVi’s only high yield bond, as it is acquiring Geriatros from private equity fund Magnum.

A French agency is the latest SSA issuer preparing to tap a dollar market that is in good health — although not every point on the curve may be open for borrowers wishing to follow this week.