Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (TAQA) has announced a successful placement of $1.5 billion in unsecured notes, with the deal being almost 10 times oversubscribed, reaching a final order book of $15 billion.
The placement, which represents TAQA’s first green bond issuance, included $1 billion 10-year green bonds issued at a coupon rate of 4.696% and $500 million 5-year notes with a coupon rate of 4.375%.
The proceeds from the green bonds will be used to finance, refinance and invest in eligible green projects as outlined in TAQA’s Green Financing Concept, while the proceeds from the 5-year notes will be used for general corporate purposes.
Read more: TAQA energizes sustainability agendas in the UAE
The bonds are expected to be rated Aa3 by Moody’s and AA- by Fitch, according to the company’s corporate credit ratings.
The issue was arranged and offered through a syndicate of joint lead managers and book runners comprising BNP Paribas, Emirates NBD Capital, First Abu Dhabi Bank, HSBC, ICBC, IMI-Intesa Sanpaolo, Scotiabank, SMBC Nikko, and Standard Chartered. TAQA’s new Green Finance Concept has been supported by Citi, Standard Chartered Bank, MUFG, and HSBC as joint sustainability structuring banks, together with First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) as sustainability finance advisor.
The CEO of TAQA, Jasim Hussain Tabet, said that the green bond issuance allowed them to meet the growing demand from investors looking for reliable green investment opportunities.
For his part, Stephen Ridlington, the CFO of TAQA, commented that the successful completion of the issuance of the green bonds reinforced investor confidence in TAQA’s financial fundamentals.
Earlier this week, TAQA unveiled its Green Finance Framework to issue green bonds, sukuks, loans, and other debt instruments, to contribute to its ESG targets and the UAE’s Net Zero by 2050 ambitions.
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