French public-sector lending specialist Caffil issued a €500 million ($584 million) social bond which was its first to include the export contracts in its use of proceeds.

Caffil is the 'covered bond' issuing arm of Sfil, which finances French local authorities, public health institutions and supports large French export contracts.

This transaction, which is the eighth social bond of Sfil Group since 2019, is a step towards the group's target of increasing the share of ESG issuance in its yearly funding volumes to 33% over the period from 2024 to 2030.

This social covered bond was the first on the market to finance French export contracts with social benefits, such as electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure.

The deal saw strong demand from international investors with an overall order book of €1.7 billion, an oversubscription rate of 3.4 times and the participation of 65 investors.