Unilever sells first sterling Green Bond

摘要

Consumer goods company unilever, rated A1/ A+, sold its first ever Green Bond last week - and also the first ever benchmark of its type in sterling - becoming the second European company in less than a month to sell this type of debt. Agencies and supranationals such as IFC, EBRD, World Bank, EIB, KBN and FMO have all issued Green Bonds over the past year-and-a-half, and although corporate issuance has so far been limited, it is picking up. Last year, Electricite de France sold a €1.4bn deal, the first benchmark-sized corporate green issue, and last month, Europe's biggest property group, Unibail-Rodamco, printed a debut Green Bond. Unilever's green sustainability bond is the first Green Bond in the sterling market and the first by a company in the FMCG sector. "Unilever took Green Bonds to the next step - they are now no longer restricted to the development banks and energy companies," said a banker working on the deal. He added that the consumer goods giant had paved the way for large corporates with sizeable manufacturing operations to start looking seriously at Green Bonds.