France

Neoen, the French renewable energy company, said on Wednesday that it had received huge levels of demand for its €600m rights issue, proving that the right companies in the renewable energy sector can still attract a strong following among equity investors despite recent turbulence in green stocks.

Société Générale said on Wednesday that it was looking to sell its asset management arm Lyxor to French investor Amundi. The transaction will wrap up a three year restructuring programme, which has added up to 90bp to the bank’s capital ratios.

Compagnie de Financement Foncier took advantage of Tuesday’s strong market conditions to issue its first covered bond of 2021, and the fifth from Groupe BPCE. The €1.5bn eight year negative yielding transaction, which was larger than expected, partially refinances a series of CFF’s redemptions coming up in the next two months.

Three banks jumped into the euro senior market after the Easter break on Tuesday, benefitting from stable demand and printing with low new issue concessions.

Air France-KLM has revealed plans for a €4bn recapitalisation backed by the French government following approval from the European Commission.

French president Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday that stringent lockdown measures imposed in some areas will be extended nationally for a month. Though the measures will cost France €11bn, it is unlikely to provoke a serious response in France’s bond market.

CNP Assurances found favourable pricing in dollars this week, when it ventured into the Reg S market for its second sale of restricted tier one (RT1) capital.

France's Agence Française de Développement is looking to hire a director of its treasury and capital markets department.

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The head of the Portuguese treasury and debt management agency (IGCP) said she supports France’s novel approach of engaging with investors to tackle the problem of inflated orders.

Société Générale benefitted from calmer issuance conditions on Thursday as it sold €1bn of new tier two debt. The deal takes another chunk out of the issuer’s capital plans, which totalled a sizeable €4.5bn at the beginning of the year.

Unédic, the French unemployment agency, had the euro SSA primary market to itself on Wednesday, allowing it to comfortably print €3bn with its second social bond benchmark of the year.