Supporting Europe’s Defence Capabilities through Innovation in Finance

Bpifrance is a public group, closely supervised by the French State through EPIC Bpifrance and the Caisse des Dépôts, that aims to finance and support the development of companies. As a bank dedicated to supporting all French entrepreneurs, Bpifrance actively contributes to the development of the economic landscape in every region. It helps foster the growth of French companies of all sizes while ensuring the competitiveness and sustainable advancement of the French economy.

This pioneering issuance underlines the growing importance of innovative capital markets solutions in supporting Europe’s defence industrial base and strengthening resilience across key sectors. The transaction received strong support from investors, with a final order book exceeding € 3.8 billion, reflecting growing investor confidence in the sector’s strategic and industrial importance. 

The interest gathered from investors reflects a high level of granularity and quality in orders from banks, asset managers, central banks, and official institutions. In terms of geographical distribution, the Bpifrance signature attracted a pan-European investor base, with 66% of allocations going to investors outside of France, including 22% for Nordic investors and 20% for Southern Europe.

It follows the publication of Bpifrance’s innovative European Defence Bond Framework in July this year, establishing a new financing channel dedicated to Europe’s defence ecosystem.

The proceeds from the bond will be fully utilised to finance or refinance: 

• Loans dedicated to defence sector players through its Def'fi offering: a program specifically designed to finance the unique needs of SMEs that are suppliers to the defence sector;
• Loans dedicated to strategic companies within the Defence Industrial and Technological Base (BITD);
• Loans dedicated to companies in specialised associations (GICAT, GIFAS, GICAN); 
• Export loans for French companies to European1 countries supporting defence activities; 
• Expenses incurred by Bpifrance under the "Cybersecurity Defence Diagnostics" program, which aims to help SMEs and ETIs identify digital risks related to their activities and assess the security of their information.