France

Schneider Electric, the French electrical systems company, has issued what many in the market are calling Europe's first true sustainability-linked convertible bond, in which the issuer agrees to pay investors more if it fails to meet pre-agreed environmental, social and governance targets.

Alstom, the French manufacturer of trains, trams and buses, has embarked upon its long-awaited rights issue with a fair wind behind it after the recent progress towards a Covid-19 vaccine.

Société de Financement Local (SFIL) was over 5-1/2 times covered as it brought its long-awaited debut green bond to the market on Friday, allowing it to price well inside fair value.

French bank Société Générale made a triumphant return to the dollar market this week, with its first additional tier one (AT1) capital issue in the currency for more than two years.

French agency Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations finished its 2020 syndicated funding programme with a visit to the Swiss market this week, printing an extremely tight deal through the high quality domestic covered bond curve.

The euro SSA market was dominated by French issuers this week, with borrowers working swiftly to finish off their enlarged 2020 funding programmes once the EU had cleared the decks.

Société Générale was set to launch a popular additional tier one deal in the dollar market on Thursday, as investors spied an opportunity to gain a little pick-up over other French bank credits.

Unédic, the French unemployment agency, will look to complete its €15bn funding programme on Thursday, coming to market in the footsteps of the EU’s second outing.

Shopping centre group Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield's planned €3.5bn rights issue has been cancelled after a group of activist shareholders convinced investors to reject it ahead of an extraordinary general meeting.

Unédic and Caisse d'Amortissement de la Dette Sociale (Cades) still have sizeable amounts of funding to raise before the end of the year and, with only a few weeks remaining, will look to issue after the EU clears the decks this week.

A pipeline of deals is building in the Swiss franc bond market for when the US election is concluded. Among those circling the market is Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, which could finish its 2020 funding with a public benchmark.

The group of activist shareholders working to derail retail real estate company Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s €3.5bn rights issue powered up their attack on Monday.