NWD Offers World's 1st USD Social and Green Dual Tranche Bond in Public Markets aggregating $700m

New World Development Company Limited announced it has become the first corporate in the world to issue a USD-denominated social and green dual tranche offering in the public bond markets.

With this transaction, NWD also becomes the first non-financial corporate in Asia to issue a USD-denominated Social bond in the public bond markets, as well as the first corporate in Greater China to issue a USD-denominated Green perpetual in the public bond markets. 

The 5-year USD200 million Social bond, priced at T+290 basis points, and USD500 million Green perpetual bond were oversubscribed by nearly 5 times at its peak, with strong participation from over 100 quality investors on each tranche, including renowned fund managers, asset managers and private banks.

The bonds were issued in Hong Kong under the Group's Sustainable Finance Framework, which was recently refreshed to stay up-to-date with evolving international standards and best practice.

The Company received a positive Second-Party Opinion of the framework from Sustainalytics, an independent global provider of ESG and corporate governance research and ratings to investors.

Edward Lau, Chief Financial Officer of NWD, said: "We are delighted to be the first corporate in the world to issue a USD-denominated social and green dual tranche offering in the public bond markets. The growth of social bonds is reflecting a diversification of sustainability objectives financed by investors. Corporations and financial institutions will become more active in the social bond market as the pandemic accelerates private issuers' interest in social considerations. And, while the recent surge may have been precipitated by Covid-19, the appeal of social bonds as a sustainable finance instrument may endure long after its effects have subsided."