Siemens Gamesa, a specialist in wind power, has broken new ground
with its debut sustainability-linked syndicated guarantee facility for €600
million. The facility, which supports the construction of components for the
world’s largest offshore wind farm, incorporates a dual environmental and
social sustainability purpose. (BNP Paribas acted as Sustainability Global
Advisor and Mandated Lead Arranger.)
Accelerating environmental and social impact through trade finance mechanisms is an important step in embedding sustainable finance into the way we can support corporates and investors to achieve their sustainability ambitions.
Deploying a novel sustainability-linked mechanism – a first in the
trade finance space – Siemens will pay a premium if it fails to achieve the
defined ESG targets. Should it meet those targets, the premium will be paid by
the banks on the syndicated guarantee facility. In either case, the established
premium is used to support a cancer research project at the Hospital La Paz
Institute for Health Research in Madrid, Spain.
The environmental impact on the guarantee facility is achieved
through enabling the construction of components for the world’s largest wind
farm owned by Ørsted, a Danish power company, providing renewable energy to
over one million homes. The facility allows Siemens Gamesa to supply and install 165
wind turbines in the North Sea.
The premium supports the United Nations Sustainability Development
Goal (SDG) 3, Good Health and Wellbeing, providing resources for an early
breast cancer detection research programme led by Dr Eduardo López-Collazo, Scientific Director at the Institute.
Siemens Gamesa further underlines its status as a pioneer in sustainable
finance. Its novel transactions in the past year include a €174million
sustainability-linked FX hedge and a three-year interest rate swap, in which
BNP Paribas reinvests the premium into reforestation projects. In addition, it
completed a €2.5 billion sustainability-linked syndicated facility in December 2019 (BNP Paribas was Sole
Sustainability Agent).
Thomas Spannring, acting CFO of Siemens Gamesa said: “This deal is
a continuation of Siemens Gamesa’s focus on sustainability in finance and
strengthens it at a difficult time for all of society, in which we must go that
extra mile in supporting medical research. It is very gratifying to be able to
make a contribution.”
Dr Eduardo López Collazo, Scientific Director of Hospital La Paz
Institute for Health Research said: “We are in the midst of an emergency — one in which
science has taken on a very prominent role, in both political and social terms.
After Covid-19, there will still be other health problems that were here before
and will not have gone away. My group has been seeking an explanation for
metastasis for the last two decades; it’s a task that needs funding, and one
whose success is synonymous with life.”
Rodolphe Vergeaud, Head of CIB EMEA Trade
& Working Capital Solutions, BNP Paribas said: “Accelerating environmental and social
impact through trade finance mechanisms is an important step in embedding
sustainable finance into the way we can support corporates and investors to
achieve their sustainability ambitions. The current healthcare crisis requires
solidarity, and the partnership with Siemens Gamesa highlights how social
objectives and promoting a green recovery can be aligned.”
