NIB launches seven-year EUR 500 million environmental bond
On 2 March, NIB issued a EUR 500 million NIB Environmental Bond (NEB), due March 2029. This is NIB’s second bond under the NEB Framework this year, and the first NEB issuance in EUR in 2022. The proceeds from this transaction will be allocated to selected sustainable projects in the Nordic–Baltic region.
Despite the volatile market due to the geopolitical situation, the transaction received a strong reception, with nearly three-fold oversubscription. The final orderbook of more than EUR 1.6 billion with over 50 investors participating allowed NIB to price the transaction at MS -18bps.
“We are living in difficult times and navigating new issue markets is not an easy task. Therefore, we were keen to select a day with a relatively positive market backdrop for our yearly NIB Environmental Bond issue in EUR. The bond has one of the highest subscription rates of any NEB, which is a strong commitment by investors to the NIB name and the NEB product,” says Kim Skov Jensen, CFO and Head of Treasury at NIB.
“The significant change in the yield difference between the German government bond and the swap rates made discovering the right starting point for pricing challenging, but with a well-oversubscribed orderbook, we are very happy with the trade. The remarkable interest in our green bond issue shows continued commitment from our green bond investors also in challenging times, a sign of how well established and mature this market has become,” comments Jens Hellerup, Head of Funding and Investor Relations at NIB.
In terms of geographical breakdown, the Benelux countries took 27% of the orders, Nordics had 16%, German, Swiss and Austrian investors also took 16%, Asia had 15% and the remaining 26% were distributed amongst UK and other European countries.
By investor type, the largest share went to asset managers with 41%, banks had 26%, followed by official institutions with 23% and pension and insurance funds with 10%.
Joint lead managers for this transaction were DZ Bank, Natixis and Swedbank,
“The return to the EUR market with this transaction by NIB shows the strength of the issuer. It was not an easy market to navigate, but NIB still managed to secure good demand from a wide variety of investors. We, at Swedbank, are very happy to have been part of this transaction, which supports the ambitious environmental goals set by the Nordic and Baltic region,” says Linda Lindblad, Head of SSA Origination at Swedbank.
See a joint press release on the bond transaction (PDF) here.
For more information on NIB Environmental Bonds, click here.
| Bond summary terms | |
|---|---|
| Issuer: | Nordic Investment Bank |
| Rating: | Aaa / AAA by Moody’s / S&P |
| Issue amount: | EUR 500 million |
| Coupon: | 0.25%, Fixed, Annual, ACT/ACT |
| Launch date: | 02 March 2022 |
| Payment date: | 09 March 2022 |
| Maturity date: | 09 March 2029 |
| Re-offer price: | 99.606% |
| Re-offer yield: | 0.307% (MS -18bp) |
| Listing: | Nasdaq Helsinki |
| Joint lead managers: | DZ BANK, Natixis, Swedbank |
| ISIN: | XS2454249652 |
NIB is an international financial institution owned by eight member countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. The Bank finances private and public projects in and outside the member countries. NIB has the highest possible credit rating, AAA/Aaa, with the leading rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.
For further information, please contact
Mr Jens Hellerup, Senior Director, Head of Funding and Investor Relations,
at +358 961 811 401, jens.hellerup@nib.int
Ms Angela Brusas, Director, Funding and Investor Relations,
at +358 961 811 403, angela.brusas@nib.int
Mr Alexander Ruf, Director, Funding and Investor Relations,
at +358 961 811 402, alexander.ruf@nib.int