Schneider Electric’s record-breaking EUR 6bn accelerated bookbuild (ABB) this week provides an additional shot in the arm for French block trades, which have been a growing trend this year, sources close to or following the situation said.

Priced on 20 October (Tuesday), the Schneider Electric deal is the largest accelerated ECM deal ever conducted by a French company, both on a euro and US dollar basis, according to Dealogic data.

The transaction is also the largest block in Europe since 2015 on a US dollar basis, at USD 6.7bn, the data show.

Schneider, a global provider of energy transition technology, was raising money to part-finance the EUR 21bn acquisition of US-listed PTC, which was announced earlier this month. PTC provides complex industrial product design, engineering, and data management.

Investors were drawn to an investment play that allowed sizeable backing of a highly differentiated industrial growth story, with exposure to AI growth as well as a defensible electrification narrative, the sources said.

The strong demand was dominated by global long-only investors alongside existing institutional shareholders, said two sources close to the deal.

It reinforced the growing ascendancy of accelerated equity placements as a safe and flexible tool for French companies to raise vast funds for transformational M&A despite a volatile equity market, other sources added.

“In a period with global economic uncertainties, France’s deteriorating credit situation and political headwinds prompting questions about the country’s dynamism, this ABB of a historic value is trumping the French bashing,” said a third source familiar with the situation.

The deal was several times oversubscribed within minutes, according to one of the sources close to the deal.

Source: Dealogic (Deal currency USD)

Schneider Electric’s record transaction followed a EUR 3bn primary share issuance by Engie in February – also an M&A financing deal – and a EUR 1.1bn secondary sell-down in Orange SA by Bpifrance in July.

In addition, Rexel raised EUR 500m from a sizeable primary ABB in September, and there has been a host of other large multi-million-euro secondary sell-downs year-to-date.

For all the handwringing over France’s IPO market and the lack of new listings, French equity markets are having a strong 2026.

“After Engie and Rexel, Schneider has shown that ABBs can be an effective tool to finance M&A while limiting exposure to volatile markets,” said the second source close to the deal. “The success of this transaction is good news for the French ECM market and will likely encourage other issuers to consider similar structures,” this source added.

Schneider’s shares initially fell in the days following the 5 October announcement of the PTC acquisition, which also spelled out the company’s plans for an equity issue of EUR 5bn-EUR 6bn. Sources said the fact that the equity financing was pre-announced likely lead to some fears over dilution and perhaps even concerns over the execution risk of such a mega deal.

Therefore, the deal team worked fast, with the ABB coming in the first available window after Schneider’s third-quarter results and the 5 October announcement, they noted.

The success of the placement, however, shows that perhaps those fears were unfounded. Intraday today (21 October), the stock was trading slightly above the EUR 240 per share offer price at EUR 245. The offer price represented a discount of 4.99% to the pre-deal close on 19 October.

“The shares are trading comfortably above the issue price,” the first source said. “There’s inevitably some technical pressure from the new issuance and dilution, while the broader European industrial and AI-related names are also under pressure today. But the fact that investors were prepared to commit EUR 6bn at this discount, in the current market, tells you there is still substantial demand for the right equity story,” the source added.

Schneider’s deal might, a few years from now, be seen as no more than a wonderful idiosyncrasy of a French corporate taking front foot aggressive action in the capital markets to fund transformational M&A plans. But the hope is that it will mark a sea change moment for French ECM.

“This deal demonstrates that European companies are not confined to defensive strategies,” argued Jose Antonio Gagliardi, Société Générale’s head of equity syndicate. “They can pursue ambitious growth plans, execute transformative acquisitions, and secure the equity support needed to fund them. In that sense, it is a sign of a broader European renaissance in corporate ambition.”

Société Générale was a joint global coordinator and joint bookrunner for the placement together with Morgan Stanley and BNP Paribas. Barclays, Citi, Deutsche Bank and Natixis acted as joint bookrunners.