Berlin Hyp has become the first bank to issue a Green Pfandbrief bond with the placement this week of a €500 mln seven-year mortgage Pfandbrief in benchmark format.
Berlin Hyp has become the first bank to issue a Green Pfandbrief bond with the placement this week of a €500 mln seven-year mortgage Pfandbrief in benchmark format.
'The Green Pfandbrief combines the best of both worlds,' commented Gero Bergmann, member of the management board of Berlin Hyp responsible for capital markets. 'It is a mortgage Pfandbrief as defined in the Pfandbriefgesetz (Pfandbrief legislation) and therefore fulfils all the statute’s strict criteria. At the same time, it also has the formal structure for a green bond required by the Green Bond Principles.'
A consortium comprising Credit Agricole, DZ Bank, JP Morgan, LBBW and UniCredit Bank placed the bond on the market with a coupon of 0.125%. At mid-swap, the re-offer spread was 16 basis points.
The bond was oversubscribed four times with an order book of close to €2 bn. German investors accounted for a 7% participation, followed by Scandinavia with 13% and Austria and Switzerland with 8%.
Berlin Hyp said it will also use the issue proceeds to finance buildings constructed in accordance with strict ecological and sustainability criteria.
