Sign in
Masdar plans dual-tranche green bond: Investor negotiations for Masdar’s USD-denominated Reg S dual-tranche green bond issuance began yesterday, global capital markets intelligence provider International Finance Review reports. The bonds will have tenors of five and ten years. The value of the future issuance — which will mark Masdar’s second one to date — was not disclosed.
Advisors: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Citigroup, Credit Agricole, First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), HSBC, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Natixis, and Standard Chartered Bank have been appointed as joint lead managers and bookrunners.
We knew this was coming: Masdar said in April that it was planning to take a green bond issuance worth between USD 750 mn and 1 bn to market this year to secure funding for its renewable projects in Central Asia, specifically in Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. This comes as part of a USD 3 bn bonds program aimed at funding clean energy initiatives in the UAE and globally.
Background: The firm raised USD 750 mn last year in its debut green bond sale, which it listed on both the London Stock Exchange and the ADX. The bonds — which were 5.6x oversubscribed — were priced at 115 basis points over US treasuries from an initial guidance of around 150 bps over the same benchmark.
There could be more planned: “The reason why you can expect that we will do another issuance this year, and in future years, is because we have a very strong pipeline of new greenfield projects around the world,” Director of Corporate Finance and Treasury Bruce Johnson said in April. “These projects are at an advanced stage of development and we are committed to meeting their equity funding needs with the proceeds of our green bonds,” he added.
