France

Governments across Europe are scrambling to support businesses as the rapid spread of the coronavirus batters their economies. In France, the state is in discussion with its advisors about preparing to step in and take equity stakes in companies showing signs of stress, according to sources speaking to GlobalCapital.

Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations plans to proceed with funding outside of its core currencies of euros and dollars in the coming months, in spite of the volatility.

This week's funding scorecard looks at the progress French agencies have made in their funding programmes by mid-March.

Once again, corporate bond markets have staged a recovery after a shutdown of several days as asset prices plummeted in response to the growing coronavirus outbreak. Three industrial companies plus JP Morgan issued bonds in the US on Tuesday, which “all went exceptionally well” according to a head of syndicate in London. Danone launched on Wednesday the first euro corporate issue of the week, paying a high spread but small new issue premium.

Korian, a French owner and operator of care homes, issued a new €400m seven year convertible bond on Tuesday, as equities rallied on hopes of central bank stimulus to combat the economic cost of the Covid-19 corona virus outbreak.

Nacon, the French video game developer, concluded its listing on the Paris stock exchange last Friday, a week earlier than expected. A strong start to the bookbuilding process meant the banks were able to price the deal despite a brutal equity market sell-off, but the seller was careful in allocations to try and aid aftermarket performance.

Rating: Aa2/—/AA

Unédic was almost three times covered for a 10 year bond on Thursday, with the leads pointing to the relative value of the trade and the quality of name as the factors behind its success against a difficult market backdrop.

French gaming company Nacon will close its IPO books because of strong demand but market fears over the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak means ECM bankers on the deal are giving themselves pricing flexibility.

Three banks seized a favourable backdrop in the bond market to sell senior bonds this week, finding a warm welcome for maturities from three to six years.

BNP Paribas this week set a new record low for an additional tier one (AT1) coupon issued from a European bank in the dollar market, raising $1.75bn amid heady demand for the product. Iceland’s Arion Bank was also in the market, chipping in with a $100m deal ahead of beneficial domestic tax changes.

BPCE raised senior bond funding in sterling on Thursday, making use of constructive conditions in the currency. The lender launched its deal at a spread that, on an after-swap basis, was roughly in line with where it could have landed in euros.