Calyon acted as co-bookrunner in the first bond issue of Largardère. The final amount of this inaugural Eurobond issue is EUR 1 billion, with 5-year maturity (due in 2014) and an annual coupon of 4.875%.

The successful transaction saw the order book reaching a total of EUR 5.8 billion within 35 minutes, nearly 6 times oversubscribed. Lagardère achieved a final distribution of high quality with fund managers taking 50% of the allocation and insurers 14%. In addition to the expected strong support from French accounts, it was encouraging to see significant participation from both UK and Swiss investors.

Lagardère took advantage of the current rally in non-rated new issue supply to launch its inaugural issue. This transaction enables Lagardère to diversify its funding sources. It also allows the group to lengthen the maturity profile of its debt. The proceeds from the deal will be used for general corporate purposes.

Lagardère is a pure media group (books, press, broadcast, digital, travel retail and press distribution, sports trading and sports rights), and is among the world leaders in the sector. Lagardère shares are listed on Euronext Paris.