French SIIC Gecina said it has carried out a new EUR 500 mln bond issue, with a maturity of five years through to February 2016. The issue, which was placed last week, was more than six times oversubscribed, reflecting a resurgence in interest among European investors.

The bond was issued with a spread of 168 basis points over the mid-swap rate and a coupon of 4.25%.

The spread of 168 bp is significantly lower than the 285 bp awarded for the four-year maturity bond issued by Gecina in September 2010. The improvement reflects the positive impacts of the upgrade of the group's rating by Standard&Poor's to BBB- in October 2010, as well as restored confidence among European bond investors.

The new bond issue has also helped Gecina to further diversify its investor base, with France representing 38% of the take-up, the UK a further 18%, and Germany and Switzerland another 11% and 10% respectively.

'Gecina is rapidly delivering on its commitment to diversify its sources of financing, moving towards a bond debt ratio in excess of 40% over the medium term, compared with 22% at end-September,' the company said.

The placement was headed by Deutsche Bank, Crédit Agricole CIB, ING, Natixis and Société Générale as the joint book runners and lead underwriters.