Société Générale

Lagardère, the French book publisher and travel retail company, has signed a €465m short term government-backed loan and extended its revolving credit facility, as the company shuffles its loan liabilities amid a plunge in revenue.

Diversification has taken hold in central Asia's Uzbekistan, which over the last two years has started its pivot towards international capital markets. According to sources, a plethora of debut deals is expected to hit markets in coming months.

Komerční banka (KB), a partially owned subsidiary of Société Générale, has mandated leads for the first fully distributed euro benchmark covered bond from the Czech Republic, paving the way for other major lenders to follow suit.

After a dismally quiet year of issuance in 2020, bankers are convinced that sub-Saharan African bond volumes will make a strong recovery. The Republic of Benin is sounding out investors for a euro-denominated offering, its second foray into the market since its debut two years ago.

Issuers from Greater China flooded the market with dollar deals on Tuesday, capitalising on strong appetite from investors ready to put money to work in the new year.

Public sector borrowers soaked up huge demand in the euro market on Tuesday including the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, which printed its biggest ever 100 year bond despite offering a yield of less than 1%.

A pair of senior non-preferred bonds from Swedbank and Société Générale on Tuesday followed Monday’s opener from ING. With three household names now having established pricing points, rarer borrowers are starting to fill the pipeline.

Société Générale has hired Stephane About from Natixis, where he held a senior role in the Corporate and Investment Bank.

ING kicked off the financials market in euros on Monday, as the Dutch bank looked to extend out its callable curve at a holding company level, and with minimal new issue premia on offer, a slew of deals is set to follow.

The European Central Bank's various purchase programmes are set to continue shaping covered bond issuance next year, but away from the reach of the ECB, more niche markets are expected to flourish. Collected below is a selection of GlobalCapital’s covered bond outlooks for next year.

Transdev, the French public transport operator, has signed a Skr1.2bn (€117m) credit facility to buy low carbon buses in Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest city. One of the commercial lenders arranging the deal has used European Investment Bank money rather than its own, to provide better financing conditions.

During last January’s conference in Vienna, we felt that sentiment around CEE was mostly optimistic, but — to be frank — slightly unenthusiastic. It seemed as though everybody was expecting another solid, but ordinary year ahead. The news about the novel coronavirus in China was very distant.