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City Developments Limited (CDL), via its wholly owned subsidiary CDL Properties Ltd (CDLP), has issued the first green bond by a Singapore company.
Launched under the CDLP $700 million secured Medium Term Note (MTN) Programme, the green bond raised $100 million at 1.98 percent fixed rate due in 2019, with investors comprising mainly fund managers and financial institutions.
Proceeds of the bond are for the repayment of a $100 million loan extended by CDL to CDLP, which owns Republic Plaza (pictured).
Located within the heart of Singapore’s CBD, the premium Grade A office building has been continuously upgraded since its completion in 1996 to improve its energy efficiency. In fact, Republic Plaza was awarded with the highest Green Mark Platinum rating by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) in 2012.
In a statement, CDL noted that demand for green bonds is fuelled by the Paris Climate Change Agreement, which has since been ratified by Singapore.
With this, more investors are looking to fund low-carbon and climate resilient projects.
Sherman Kwek, Deputy CEO at CDL, said the company’s green bond issuance “complements the Singapore government’s target of greening at least 80 percent of the country’s building stock by 2030, which could potentially be the lynchpin of Singapore’s climate pledge to reduce its Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.
“It is clear that for the next 13 years, real estate companies have a large role to play in mitigating climate change and contributing towards Singapore’s greening and GHG emissions reduction goals. We would certainly be keen to explore more green bond issuances in future.”
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
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