France

Now that SSAs are back to pricing at the spreads they offered before coronavirus hit, central bank investors are pushing back and reducing their orders.

Rating: Aa2/—/AA

Public sector debt market participants are still on tenterhooks, awaiting the arrival of the EU’s now much delayed funding programme. Many of the sector’s top borrowers have all but cleared their decks in preparation, but some are still grappling with inflated borrowing requirements as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Lewis McLellan reports.

Bank Nederlandse Gementeen kicked off a busy week for socially responsible bond issuance by public sector borrowers with a well-received 12 year sustainable bond, its longest ever deal in that format.

BNP Paribas showed that structural creativity can achieve results in equity capital markets with a €462m block trade in Alstom stock on Tuesday evening. The bank used a forward sale structure to allow Bouygues to financially sell a 4.85% stake in Alstom now, but legally retain the shares until the end of next month so it can vote in favour of an acquisition.

French agency Caisse d'Amortissement de la Dette Sociale returned to the euro social bond market on Tuesday, equalling its impressive achievement earlier this month to print another €5bn deal.

Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of business on Monday, September 28. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services

Crédit Agricole has sold a 4% share stake in Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF) to two unnamed investors for around €330m, ending an association which dates back to 1977.

French semiconductor maker Soitec has returned to the equity-linked debt market with a new €325m five year convertible bond, after a rally in its share price since March.

Caisse d’Amortissement de la Dette Sociale is set to return to the social bond market in euros after setting the size record for the format in the currency earlier this month — a feat it also recently achieved in the dollar market.

Agence Française de Développement announced on Thursday that it will be launching a new framework showing how its treasury activities promote the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. It has also boosted its funding programme to allow it to meet its clients' additional needs caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Africa Finance Corp, the pan-African development finance institution, printed its first green bond on Monday.