First ERAP Issue Listed On MTS France

The first line of the state-guaranteed issuer, ERAP, was listed on MTS France on Friday, April 4. The €4 billion 3.375 per cent April 25, 2008 bond met the listing criteria of the French electronic fixed-income market whereby eligible non-government issuers have to commit to publicly issue a minimum outstanding of €3 billion within the first year of its admission.

The arrival of ERAP on MTS France underlines the issuer's strong support for the establishment of market liquidity for their debt. Nine primary dealers have so far expressed their commitment to make prices for the issue, namely Barclays Capital, BNP Paribas, CDC Ixis, Crédit Agricole Indosuez, Deutsche Bank, HSBC-CCF, JP Morgan, Natexis Banques Populaires and Société Generale.

Anne Duthilleul, President of ERAP, acknowledging the success of the inaugural issue of ERAP's EMTN programme, said: "The deal was seen to be ambitious, given that ERAP is a newcomer to the market. However, we were able to meet the challenge despite the difficult international situation. Thanks to the listing on MTS France, where ERAP's first line is quoted transparently in the secondary market, our security sees good liquidity, thus meeting investor's expectations."

The listing of the ERAP security on MTS France also immediately made it available for trading on BondVision, the MTS Group's multi-dealer to client market, ensuring its distribution to institutional investors.

Trading activity on MTS France continue to increase significantly with March volumes reaching €27.5 billion, 50% higher in comparison to the same period of last year.