Linklaters has advised LafargeHolcim, the world’s largest cement company, on its inaugural €850 million sustainability-linked 0.5% bond due 2031, which issued on 23 November 2020. It is the first bond in the building materials industry aligned to the International Capital Markets Association’s (ICMA) Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles, published in June 2020.
Ben Dulieu, Capital Markets Partner at Linklaters, said:
“We are continuing to see more companies link their funding to sustainability goals alongside strong investor appetite for sustainable finance. We are delighted to have supported our client in its decarbonisation efforts and to have acted on this pathfinding transaction for the industry.”
Bond investors will be entitled to a higher coupon should the company not meet its objective, incentivising LafargeHolcim to reach its target of 475 kg net CO2 per ton of cementitious material by 2030.
The issuance by LafargeHolcim of a sustainability-linked bond linked to key performance indicators (KPIs) which impacts pricing terms if such KPIs are not met follows the first issuance of its kind by Enel in October 2019.
Earlier this year the firm also advised the managers on debut sustainability-linked bonds by Novartis and Suzano, which were the first bonds of their kind to be aligned with the ICMA’s Sustainability-Linked Bond Principles published in June 2020.
Linklaters’ involvement in these innovative transactions draws on the firm’s market-leading expertise across its global corporate, environment and climate change, energy and financial regulation practices.
The Linklaters team was led by Ben Dulieu (Partner, Capital Markets) and supported by Amrita Ahluwalia (Managing Associate, Capital Markets) and Darren Chew (Associate, Capital Markets).
