Saur ties its debt service bill to ESG performance

摘要

Private equity-backed French water group Saur successfully issued a €950 million sustainability-linked bond package this month, pegging the interest rate of the group's refinancing to its ability to meet environmental targets by 2025. The issue benefits from investment-grade ratings of BBB- assigned by both Fitch and Standard & Poor's, and the bonds were split across two tranches: a €450 million 4-year yielding 0.18%, and a €500 million 7-year yielding 0.67%. "These are extremely good financing conditions when compared to our current bank financing, with rates well above 2.5%," Saur CFO Albin Jacquemont told GWI this month.