Alternative investments specialist AXA IM Alts has announced that its flagship European logistics fund, AXA Logistics Europe Master, has successfully priced an €800 mln green bond.
This represents the first bond issuance undertaken by AXA Logistics Europe, attracting strong demand with a circa four-times oversubscribed order book, amounting to €3.2 bn.
Timothé Rauly, global chief investment officer, head of fund management at AXA IM Alts, commented: 'The issuance of AXA Logistics Europe’s first green bond is a significant milestone for the fund and testament to the quality of the fund’s asset base, our strong track record in ESG investing, as well as the continued demand for green investment opportunities from institutions.
'The shift in financing strategy to unsecured debt will allow the repayment of existing mortgage loans, with the positive change in the long-term capital structure of the Fund allowing for further growth and continued market leading returns.'
The green notes were placed across a broad range of 136 European and international institutional investors and have been assigned an A- rating by Fitch.
The green notes were issued across two tranches, including €500 mln with a five-year maturity, and €300 mln with an eight-year maturity. Maturing in 2026 and 2029, the green notes pay a coupon of 0.375% and 0.875% and have an issue price of 99.448% and 99.249% respectively.
AXA Logistics Europe has assembled a portfolio of around 130 assets across 11 European countries. fund holds a major stake in the €4.2 bn European logistics platformmanaged by AXA IM Alts’ real assets team.
The green bond was issued under AXA Logistics Europe’s green finance framework, which has been approved by Sustainalytics, an independent ESG and corporate governance research, ratings and analytics firm.
The latest bond follows the issuance of two green bonds by AXA Core Europe earlier this year, with the second tranche pricing successfully in October 2021.
