Société Générale

French asset manager Axiom Alternative Investments has hired Laurent Henrio, the former global head of credit trading activities at Société Générale, to run a new fund buying illiquid credit exposures in banks’ trading books.

French building materials producer Saint Gobain received overwhelming demand for its second benchmark issuance of 2018. A combined order book of €7bn meant the issuer could have sold a much larger deal than the €1bn size limit it imposed on itself.

Dutch registered machinery and vehicle manufacturer CNH Industrial achieved an order book nearly three times oversubscribed for its first corporate bond sale since Standard & Poor’s raised the company rating to BBB.

France’s Nexity has signed a €2.3bn corporate credit facility, with the real estate developer refinancing early and ramping up the size of its bank line to finance its growth strategy.

Société Générale sold its first non-preferred senior deal in Australian dollars this week, as international banks make better use of the currency for their total loss-absorbing capacity (TLAC) requirements.

The deal flow of high yield bonds kept rising in euros and sterling this week. Four new issuers joined the already heavy pipeline, including a euro bond from UK premium car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover.

Agence Française de Développement was comfortably oversubscribed and able to pull in pricing by a basis point from guidance with a climate bond issue on Monday.

Public sector euro benchmark supply is set to restart after a lull last week, with a eurozone sovereign and a French agency hitting screens on Monday for pricing on Tuesday.

DP World hit screens on Monday to announce a tender offer of a 2019 Sukuk note and the sale of a new 10 year dollar benchmark.

French electrical utility Engie found success with a benchmark dual tranche issue of corporate bonds on its third visit to the euro bond market in 2018. The company opted for no-grows with both tranches, which served to increase demand markedly compared with its previous deal.

Société Générale is bolstering its corporate finance effort as part of a broader push in its French heartland and beyond, writes David Rothnie.

US firm Medical Properties Trust has signed a €655m secured financing package as the real estate investment firm enters into a European joint venture with France’s Primonial Group.