Ascott Residence Trust issues $200 mil sustainability-linked bond
In 2021, ART acquired the very first hospitality trust environment-friendly funding in Singapore, which was utilized to finance its initial advancement job – lyf one-north, a co-living residence licensed with Green Mark GoldPLUS by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore.
The bond was released under ART’s $2 billion Multicurrency Debt Issuance Programme under its newly-established Sustainability-Linked Finance Framework. The five-year bond will develop in April 2027 and also hold a taken care of coupon price of 3.63% per annum, paid semi-annually behind.
” Sustainability is primary to whatever we do at ART. Aligning our financing requires with our sustainability initiatives to build a greener profile demonstrates ART’s focus on accountable growth,” says Beh Siew Kim, Chief Executive Officer of ART. “Since 31 Dec 2021, 33% of ART’s portfolio is green-certified and we target to eco-friendly the rest of our profile by 2030.”
Ascott Residence Trust (ART) has issued a $200 million sustainability-linked bond, making it the first Singapore-listed realty trust and the initial hospitality trust around the world to issue such a bond.
According to ART, the issuance of the sustainability-linked bond has netted the trust a green premium, or “greemium”, which refers to the reduced cost of funding from releasing financial debt that has a positive ecological influence as compared to standard bonds. ART has also committed to a sustainability efficiency aim for of greening 50% of its overall profile by 2025. To achieve this, the real estates must attain a regionally, nationally or internationally identified environmental structure specification or accreditation by a recognised third-party.
Earnings from the bond issuance will be taken to refinance ART’s existing borrowings. DBS Bank is the single sustainable finance adviser, lead supervisor as well as bookrunner for the deal.
In an April 20 news release, ART states the deal was oversubscribed by 2.2 times on the back of solid need, resulting in the bond issue being upsized from $150 million to $200 million. The last orderbook shut at $335 million with orders from across 47 accounts. In terms of investor appropriation, 79% of the bond issuance went to institutional capitalists, while exclusive banking capitalists accounted for 21%.
