Activity review: filling the void
The lingering impact of fiscal stimulus continued to support a structurally altered Australasian debt market in 2021, transaction data from the KangaNews deal database show. Corporate and securitisation issuance capitalised on the absence of major-bank supply, while sustainability-aligned deal flow reached new heights.
EIB opens 2022 with record-breaking Kangaroo sustainability bond
European Investment Bank kicked off the 2022 Kangaroo market Wednesday, pricing the largest-ever Australian dollar green, social and sustainability bond from a supranational, sovereign and agency borrower. The issuer says pricing was attractive versus its core-currency markets as it seeks greater investor diversification through its green- and sustainability-funding programmes.
TWE targets women-in-leadership goals with its first SLL
Treasury Wine Estates is aiming for gender equality in senior leadership roles and 42 per cent female representation across its business by 2025. The company included these goals in the KPIs for its first sustainability-linked loan, which completed last week – in the process becoming the first Asia-Pacific winemaker to borrow in this format.
Funding outlook a return to normal not a spike, Australian big four report
KangaNews and RBC Capital Markets hosted their annual Australian bank funding roundtable in November 2021 at an important juncture for the sector. The pandemic – or, more accurately, the government and central-bank response to the pandemic – had a profound impact on Australian major-bank funding.
Read more: Funding outlook a return to normal not a spike, Australian big four report
Metlifecare completes New Zealand’s biggest SLL
Metlifecare has refinanced and expanded its bank debt with the completion of a record-breaking NZ$1.25 billion (US$842.6 million) sustainability-linked loan. The company says this is an important step in its new growth strategy following its acquisition by Swedish investment firm EQT Partners in 2020.