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When asked why Saint-Gobain has decided to tap the international capital market this June, chief financial officer François Janny's answer is straightforward: "Because we needed money. We are not a company that issues to exploit particular moments in the financial markets such as exceptional low interest rates and things like that, we only issue when we need."
The French glass, ceramics and building-materials maker, he explains, needed to borrow because its debt was "too much at short maturity and at a floating rate" but also because it had to fund a series of small acquisitions in the US, Europe and Brazil.
The bond was launched on June 18, after roadshows in London, Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Milan and Paris, and the deal went in such a weird way that some investors didn't hesitate to define it "a strange animal".
Originally planned at €800 million ($816 million), the 10-year fixed-rate deal came out just when the market started feeling pressures springing from US interest rate decisions at the upcoming federal open market committee meeting.