PSA began marketing a €250m 4.5 and seven year Schuldschein in early March via BNP Paribas, Commerzbank and UniCredit.
Pricing ranges were 105bp-120bp and 140p-160bp over either six month Euribor or mid-swaps, for floating and fixed rate debt. There was an eight year tranche too, though pricing for that is not yet known.
“The transaction received strong support from Asian, German and French investors as well as supranational institutions,” said PSA Groupe in a statement, adding that the final size was more than €500m.
The deal was priced at the tight ends of the ranges, according to sources familiar with the situation.
PSA has five car brands: Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Opel and Vauxhall, which it bought in August 2017 from General Motors.
French flurry
A parade of French companies have entered the Schuldschein market in the past few months.
“If this carries on, the French may issue the highest volume in the market after the Germans,” said a Schuldschein banker in Frankfurt.
Neopost, the postal equipment maker, came to the market in March with a dual currency Schuldschein. Helaba, HSBC and Société Générale are arranging the transaction, which offers four, five, six and seven year maturities in euros and dollars.
Pricing ranges are 130bp-150bp, 150bp-170bp, 165bp-185bp and 175bp-195bp for euros, and 160bp-180bp, 185bp-205bp, 205bp-225bp and 220bp-240bp for dollars.
Mersen, which makes machine and electrical components, followed in mid-March with a €60m seven year transaction via Helaba and Société Générale.
French telecoms company Iliad is employing Helaba, HSBC, Société Générale and UniCredit to arrange a transaction, inviting lenders to participate at four, seven, eight and 10 years. Pricing ranges are 140bp-160bp, 170bp-190bp, 180bp-200bp and 200bp-220bp.
“Part of of this run is because it was the end of results season, so there’s always a flurry. But also part is the strength of Barry Callebaut and Faurecia,” said a banker working on one of the French deals.
French car parts supplier Faurecia issued €700m of Schuldscheine via Commerzbank and Helaba in December. In February, Barry Callebaut, the Belgian-French chocolate company now based in Switzerland, took €600m in three tranches via BayernLB and SEB.
“The popularity of these deals certainly inspired confidence in the French borrowers approaching the market now,” said the banker.