Historic social bond issue for Unédic

Natixis was the sole structuring agent of a record-breaking social bond issue on May 15, completed against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The €4 billion issue maturing in November 2026 enjoyed considerable investor interest. The order book closed at a total of €7.75 billion (excluding bookrunners’ stakes), representing the largest volume of orders ever generated by bonds issued by Unédic, the agency responsible for managing French unemployment benefits.

This inaugural issue, which took place in the midst of an unprecedented health and economic crisis, will be dedicated primarily to funding the crisis response measures rolled out by Unédic: on the one hand, the strengthening of standard unemployment insurance schemes and, on the other hand, the implementation of an exceptional part-time working scheme covering more than 12 million private sector employees. A total of more than 15 million people are directly supported by Unédic.  

This issue confirms Groupe BPCE’s social bond expertise and, more particularly, the expertise of Natixis’ Green & Sustainable Hub for public sector issuers.