CBRE Global Investors Closes First Bond Issuance in EMEA, Based on Green Credentials

CBRE Global Investors has issued an ‘EU Green Bond’ as defined by the ‘EU Green Bond Standard’ in the form of a SICAV or a Société d’Investissement à Capital Variable, which can be translated as an ‘Investment Company with Variable Capital’. Notwithstanding distressed market conditions, a majority of the investors that CBRE engaged with placed orders, underscoring the strength of the fund’s credit and market profile and particularly high investor demand for sustainable real estate investments. Notably, the order book was oversubscribed by 3.4x and reached more than €1.7 billion from over 100 orders. Over 93% of the deal was allocated to high quality European ‘buy and hold’ accounts with the majority of the bond allocated to asset managers and insurance companies. Goldman Sachs acted as Global Coordinator and sole Bookrunner to CBRE Global Investors. The EU Green Bond aligns with CBRE’s ESG ambitions and net-zero targets both at a fund and corporate level. It features a maturity of seven years, a coupon of 0.5% and is rated BBB+ by S&P. The re-offer spread was set at €mid-swap plus 95 basis points, which represents the tightest spread to mid-swap in the EUR market compared to any precedent debt IPO in the real estate fund space.