Natixis

The tightest and most oversubscribed UK covered bond in three years could signal the start of banks releveraging in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, according to analysts. The €1bn Lloyds Bank deal — the country’s first in euros this year — should also tighten the UK covered curve, particularly with growth rebounding, writes Bill Thornhill.

French lender BPCE is set to sell its debut Kangaroo bond on Friday in what will also be its first foray to the public Aussie dollar market. The issuer is likely to benefit from a lack of competing supply from Australian lenders and good recent demand for European banks.

Icade, the French property company owned by Caisse des Depots et Consignations, returned to the bond market today with a €500m no-grow seven year bond that was five times oversubscribed.

PSA Peugeot Citroën has signed a €3bn dual tranche loan to refinance early a loan maturing in 2015.

BPCE has jumped into the tier two market after only announcing on Tuesday it would be meeting investors for a potential sale.

The French are taking over the pipeline for subordinated bank debt, as the country’s second largest bank gets ready to roadshow a sterling denominated tier two deal, joining La Banque Postale in the primary market.

Tullow Oil, the London-listed but Africa-focused oil exploration and production company, has followed up last week's successful bond issue with a $750m refinancing loan.

Caracal Energy, a London-listed oil and gas company, has signed a debut $140m reserve-based senior secured facility to develop its assets in Chad.

Hong Kong-listed Citic Pacific signed its HK$8.8bn ($1.13bn) five year loan on Friday, April 4, which saw two banks joining during syndication.

The French bank has ambitious growth plans that belie its reputation, writes David Rothnie

UniCredit sailed to success with a three year floating rate deal on Thursday, reaffirming the strength of demand from investors for Italian financial paper. Even investors that normally stick to fixed rate paper were lured into the deal by the prospect of picking up Italian risk.

Région Île-de-France will roadshow a new 12 year green sustainability bond next week, which bankers believe could be the first syndicated green bond from a regional government.