Artemis, the French holding company controlled by billionaire Francois Pinault, closed a €1bn ($0.9bn) exchangeable bond deal in four hours on Wednesday morning - the day after Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux entered the equity-linked market.

BNP Paribas was lead manager and joint bookrunner with Crédit Agricole Indosuez Lazard on the Artemis bond, which is exchangeable into shares of Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR), the French retail group which distributes Gucci.