France

France’s Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations is preparing to make a rare appearance in the sterling market for a two year fixed rate trade.

Crédit Agricole has mandated its investment banking team to present its updated green bond framework, which will be used for its debut green covered bond, to investors.

Xavier Niel, the founder and controlling shareholder of Iliad, the French telecoms company, is using an innovative technique to enlarge his stake, while avoiding the usual requirement to make a public offer to buy the whole company. Some bankers think it could be a clever new option for company owners — others doubt it can be used widely. Sam Kerr and Jon Hay report.

The IPO of Française des Jeux, the French gaming company that runs the national lottery, has been well received during its first week of marketing and was covered on the full size of the deal within three hours of launch last week. Demand continued to grow throughout this week with retail demand driving momentum.

La Banque Postale has suggested that issuers of additional tier one (AT1) capital should drop the tradition of making large pricing steps in the euro market, after setting a very low coupon for its debut in the asset class this week.

French car parts maker Faurecia has gone against the headwinds buffeting the industry, cutting financing costs with its latest refinancing round. A number of other well known high yield borrowers are also rushing into the market before Christmas to switch their higher coupon paper into cheaper alternatives.

Danish Ships Finance, Natixis Pfandbriefbank and Raiffeisen Bank International will keep the primary market busy with deals and roadshows this week. But the main focus will be on the size and spread that Deutsche Bank achieves for its innovative debut structured conditional pass through (CPT) covered bond that will be launched imminently.

La Banque Postale is looking to strengthen its capital position with a new additional tier one bond, beginning investor meetings on Friday. The issuer joins a growing trend towards issuers employing six month par call options in their perpetual securities.

Covered bond market participants expressed surprise at the sluggishness of book updates on Credit Mutuel Arkéa’s debut public sector covered bond, issued on Thursday morning. But the deal ended up more than twice subscribed with a great deal of smaller orders and little price sensitivity in the book.

Société Générale reported a slump in overall profit as part of its third quarter results on Wednesday, but was keen to draw attention to a near-50bp improvement in its capital ratios, thanks to restructuring actions.

Caffil issued the tightest French 10 year of 2019 amid a flurry of other well received covered bonds issued on Tuesday by DZ Hyp, mBank and Santander UK. While the European Central Bank’s return to the market helped deals go well, it was not needed amid an improvement in risk appetite.

Spanish paper company Lecta moved closer to its restructuring on Friday, as the majority of its bondholders signed a lock-up agreement to swap debt for equity. The deal replaces €600m of 2022 and 2023 notes with new senior and junior notes and equity in the company.