Bank of America Merrill Lynch this week helped French media group Lagardère sell $3bn worth of stock in EADS – the US bank's second mandate in quick succession involving a sell-down of shares in the Airbus owner.

The deal - which was the largest European equity capital markets transaction so far this year, according to Dealogic - followed the sale of $487m of EADS stock by Bank of America Merrill Lynch for Spain's State Industrial Holding Company, known as Sepi, last Tuesday.