About USD 4 billion (EUR 3.66bn) of green bonds were issued in April 2015 through several big transactions, including a EUR-400-million issuance that helped finance the buy of wind turbine maker Senvion SE.
The April figure, marking a roughly 11% month-on-month decline, brings to USD 11.25 billion the total green bond issuance for the first four months of the year, according to figures by the Climate Bond Initiative (CBI). In 2014, the green bond market tripled to USD 36.6 billion.
SENVION BUY
Rapid Holding GmbH, the financial vehicle through which US buyout firm Centerbridge Partners LP took over Senvion, issued EUR 400 million worth of senior secured notes last month to fund a portion of the deal. The vendor was Indian turbine maker Suzlon Energy Ltd (BOM:532667).
The EUR-1-billion acquisition was concluded near the end of April.
BIGGEST ISSUERS
There were several quite large green bond transactions last month that together represented over USD 3.1 billion in value. Details on the biggest issuers for the month are available in the table below.
| Issuer |
Amount |
Term |
Coupon |
| Transport for London (TfL) |
GBP 400m (USD 596m) |
10 years |
2.125% |
| BerlinHyp |
EUR 500m (USD 545m) |
7 years |
0.125% |
| The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) |
EUR 500m (USD 534m) |
7 years |
0.125% |
| Unibail-Rodamco |
EUR 500m (USD 530m) |
10 years |
1% |
| Rapid Holding GmbH |
EUR 400m (USD 450m) |
5 years |
6.625% |
GOOD NEWS
German Development Bank (KfW), a recurring green bond issuer, announced on April 9 it will buy EUR 1 billion worth of green bonds to promote environmental and climate protection. Portfolio investments, scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2015, will support projects related to resource efficiency, renewable energies, waste management, (waste) water management, biodiversity and non-polluting transport systems.
“KfW is providing a model for other development banks to follow complementing their work on the issuer side of the table by leading the way on the investor side in less established green bond product areas,” said CBI founder Sean Kidney.
Meanwhile in India, the government made some policy changes allowing Indian companies to borrow in Rupees on the international markets. This move came at the same time the central government told key public sector agencies to do more on financing renewables through green bonds.
MAY IN ADVANCE
Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) said last week it has issued a USD-600-million green bond, its second, to finance renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. “We believe green bonds will play an important role in closing the financing gap for renewable energy, energy efficiency and other lower-carbon projects,” commented chief operating officer Thomas Montag.
In Europe, transmission system operator (TSO) TenneT said on Wednesday it will use green bonds to support its investments in offshore wind transmission lines. Its plan "could eventually evolve into a multi-billion issuance programme".
(USD 1 = EUR 0.916)
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Green bond market in first four months of 2015. SeeNews Renewables. All rights reserved.
