French Sovereign

France's landmark RMB clearing house could start operations as early as the start of 2015, according to Europlace CEO Arnaud de Bresson. The structure is set to offer strong competition to Frankfurt and London in their ambitions to become Europe’s principal renminbi business hub, he said.

AXA has informed holders of certain deeply subordinated notes of the minimum spreads they will receive by swapping into new bonds in its exchange offer, which will reduce four outstanding notes in euros and sterling down to two.

BNP Paribas posted strong results in fixed income for the third quarter of 2014, boosting its revenues in the division to €911m — a 14.2% increase on the same period last year. Its fixed income growth was one of the main factors in the bank’s corporate and investment banking division posting pre-tax income of €675m — up 23.8% compared to a year ago.

French cable firm Numericable on Wednesday set terms and opened the subscription period for a €4.7bn rights issue, in what constitutes the final tranche of the financing package for one of the largest M&A deals of the year so far — the takeover of mobile phone operator SFR.

Louis Dreyfus — Geberit — Heathrow — Arkema

A French working group comprising French, Chinese and international banks in Paris has got the nod from the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) to proceed with the creation of a clearing house structure to facilitate the clearing and settlement of RMB transactions in France, GlobalRMB understands.

French professional clothing firm Elis has put its planned initial public offering on hold, joining the growing ranks of European businesses delaying equity deals as a result of weak markets.

French cable firm Numericable opened on Wednesday the subscription period for a €4.7bn rights issue, in what constitutes the final tranche of the financing package for one of the largest M&A deals of the year so far — the takeover of mobile phone operator SFR.

French hotel investment firm Foncière des Murs kicked off a €200m capital raise on Wednesday, with shareholders committing to cover the whole deal.

The French central bank, the Banque de France, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on October 28. The partnership is targeted at increasing co-operation in RMB business for banks and corporates.

Klépierre, the French real estate investment trust that specialises in shopping centres, issued a €500m 10 year bond on Tuesday and launched a tender offer for two other issues, to extend the maturity of its debt.

French chemicals company Arkema has closed the syndication of the €1.5bn bridge facility for its €1.74bn acquisition of Bostik.