France

Bpifrance is looking to become a regular issuer of green bonds, following its debut deal in the format this week.

Equity investors lined up for a slice of shares in Euronext on Thursday night, in a €213.7m block trade by two shareholders selling down their stakes before the company’s €1.8bn rights issue.

Bpifrance achieved a solid result as it sold its first green bond on Thursday, which came alongside another green bond from a compatriot issuer.

Muenchener Hypothekenbank (MuHyp) priced the tightest ultra-long dated Pfandbrief in 18 years this week, setting the record a day after Bayerische Landesbank (BayernLB) priced the tightest covered bond of the year and the tightest Pfandbrief since late 2018.

Euronext, the European stock exchange operator, has launched its long-awaited €1.8bn rights issue to part-fund its acquisition of Borsa Italiana Group from the London Stock Exchange Group.

There is a golden opportunity for banks to set a precedent by issuing sustainability-linked bonds across the capital stack, rather than waiting for regulators to finish fretting over the guidance.

TechnipFMC has completed the first placing of Technip Energies stock since its spinoff on the Paris bourse in February, boosting the freefloat of the company.

Neoen, the French renewable energy company, completed a €600m rights issue at the start of April to help fund it until 2025. Its CFO, Louis-Mathieu Perrin, spoke to GlobalCapital about the deal and explained how green equity stories can still win investors’ attention, despite a recent cooling off in stock valuations.

HSBC has appointed Jean-Manuel Richier as co-head of global banking and head of investment banking in continental Europe after the previous holder of the position, Hubert Preschez, left for M&A boutique Messier and Associés.

Bpifrance will be holding calls with investors next week to introduce its new green bond framework ahead of a debut deal in the format with the proceeds to be focused on renewable energy projects.

The French state has doubled its stake in airline Air-France KLM as part of the €1bn rights issue to recapitalise the company.

Caisse Française de Financement Local (Caffil) issued its third social covered bond on Monday at a slight premium to where its normal deals would have been expected to price.