Italian insurer Generali has placed a €500mn Tier 2 bond due July 2032 under its new Sustainability Bond Framework.
This marks Generali’s third placement of a sustainability bond following two green bond deals in recent years; the first one was placed in June 2021.
An amount corresponding to the net proceeds from the Notes will be used to finance/refinance “Eligible Green Projects”, according to the insurer.
The Notes, which pay a coupon of 5.8%, attracted an order book of €1.05bn from 116 highly diversified international institutional investors throughout the book-building process.
This included a significant representation of funds with Sustainable/SRI mandates, Generali noted.
Its expected rating is “BBB” by Fitch Ratings and “Baa2” by Moody’s.
Generali Group CFO, Cristiano Borean, commented: “The successful placement of our third green bond is evidence of our solid financial position and the confidence of investors in the ‘Lifetime Partner 24: Driving Growth’ strategic plan.
He added: “The transaction will further extend the average life of our debt, consistent with our proactive approach to managing the bond maturity profile, and will allow Generali to finance green projects, in line with our commitment to sustainability.
“Furthermore, considering our debt profile, the transaction will lead to a further reduction in annual gross interest expenses.”
According to Generali, the issuance attracted strong interest from international investors, which accounted for approximately 94% of allocated orders, underscoring the strong reputation that the Group enjoys on the international markets.
About 33% of the bond has been allocated to French investors, 26% to UK and Irish investors, 17% to German and Austrian investors and approximately 12% to Italian and Spanish investors.
Joint lead managers and bookrunners include BofA Securities, Crédit Agricole CIB, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs International, Mediobanca and Morgan Stanley.
With Citi and Deutsche Bank as global coordinators.
Last year, the Italian insurer announced its commitment to investing €3bn in sustainable and green bonds by the end of 2022, as part of its sustainability objectives.
The commitment forms part of a larger climate protection goal for Generali to make between €8.5bn and €9.5bn of new green and sustainable investments in the period from 2021 to 2025.
